Neil Kerr (13 April 1871 – 2 December 1901) was a Scottish footballer who played mainly as an outside right, for clubs including Rangers and Liverpool.[3][4]

Neil Kerr
Personal information
Full name Neil Kerr
Date of birth 13 April 1871
Place of birth Bowling, Scotland
Date of death 2 December 1901(1901-12-02) (aged 30)[1]
Place of death Bowling, Scotland
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1888–1890 Bowling
1890 Cowlairs
1890–1894 Rangers 58 (20)
1894–1895 Liverpool 12 (3)
1895–1896 Nottingham Forest 1 (0)
1896 Clyde 0 (0)
1896–1897 Falkirk
1897–1898 Rangers 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He played for both clubs in their first seasons in the respective top divisions, featuring in every fixture for Rangers plus the championship play-off[5] as they shared the 1890–91 Scottish Football League title with Dumbarton.[a] He also won the Glasgow Cup with the Light Blues in 1893.[8] He later re-joined the Govan club after spells with Liverpool, Nottingham Forest[9] and non-league Falkirk,[10] but was only a reserve in his second spell and featured in just four competitive matches,[4][11] albeit one of these was in the semi-final second replay of the 1897–98 Scottish Cup,[12] helping Rangers reach the final which they went on to win.

At representative level, Kerr took part in a Scotland national team trial match in March 1892,[4] and in November of that year was selected for the Glasgow FA's annual challenge match against Sheffield.[13]

He was the sole survivor of a yachting accident on the Firth of Clyde in 1896 in which two other men drowned,[14] but died from gastritis in 1901 at the age of 30.[15]

References

edit
  1. ^ Statutory registers - Deaths - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  2. ^ Neil Kerr, Play Up Liverpool
  3. ^ Players - Neil Kerr, LFC History
  4. ^ a b c John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ (Rangers player) Kerr, Neil, FitbaStats
  6. ^ McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
  7. ^ North-Eastern Association v. Dumbartonshire. The Scotsman, 21 April 1890, scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  8. ^ Glasgow Cup–Final Tie. The Glasgow Herald, 20 February 1893, scan via The Celtic Wiki
  9. ^ Neil Kerr transferred to Nottingham Forest, 17 August 1895, Nottinghamshire Guardian, via Play Up Liverpool
  10. ^ Neil Kerr leaves Falkirk for Rangers, 11 September 1897, Evening Telegraph, via Play Up Liverpool
  11. ^ (Rangers player) Kerr, ?, FitbaStats
  12. ^ Scottish Cup. | Third Lanark v. Rangers, The Scotsman, 14 March 1898, scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  13. ^ Sheffield v Glasgow, The Glasgow Herald, 14 November 1892
  14. ^ Neil Kerr in yachting accident on the Clyde, Arbroath Herald, 30 July 1896, via Play Up Liverpool
  15. ^ Neil Kerr Passes Away, The Evening Post, 31 December 1901, via Play Up Liverpool
  1. ^ Some records also state that he played in the SFL for Dumbarton in that season,[6] but scheduling makes this very unlikely. A player named of that name contracted to Cowlairs is recorded as featuring for a 'Glasgow North-Eastern' regional selection against Dumbartonshire (Neil Kerr's home region) in April 1890;[7] this is possibly the source of confusion.