Background
When his mother moved to Canada, Kerr followed and emigrated to the Toronto area before signing with the Detroit Cougars of the North American Soccer League in 1968.
When his mother moved to Canada, Kerr followed and emigrated to the Toronto area before signing with the Detroit Cougars of the North American Soccer League in 1968.
Professional
Kerr began his professional career with Partick Thistle in Scotland. In 1969, he joined the Washington Darts of the second division American Soccer League where he was a First Team All Star. The Darts moved up to the NASL in 1970 and Kerr remained with the team through the 1971 season.
He was the league"s 14th leading scorer with Washington in 1971 with 18 points in 24 games.
He also played for Club América of Mexico in the early 1970s. In 1972 he was again the league"s 14th top scorer with 10 points in 14 games with the Cosmos and was named league First Team All-Star at midfield.
He then played the 1976 and 1977 seasons with the Washington Diplomats, serving during the 1977 season as an assistant coach. However, on 17 July 1977, the Dips informed Kerr that the team planned to release him.
National team
Kerr played ten times for Canada, four times in World Cup qualifying in 1968, five times in West.C. qualifying in 1976 and once in a 1977 friendly.
Canada failed to qualify for either World Cup. Kerr took the amateur Fairfax Spartans to the 1986 National Amateur Cup. In 1987, the Spartans became known as F.C. Washington and later the Washington Stars as it entered the American Soccer League.
Kerr was hired as head coach of the Stars on 24 June 1987.
He coached the Stars until the team folded following the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season. Kerr was head coach of the Richmond Kickers in 1993-1994.
He was the Major League Soccer"s s Association executive director during the late 1990s. Kerr coached the varsity boys" team at Hilton Head High School in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in the mid-2000s.
At the time of his death, Kerr was coaching for Triangle Futbol Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In 2008, Kerr was inducted into the Virginia-District of Columbia Soccer Hall of Fame. In 2015 Kerr was inducted as a builder into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. Kerr"s son John Kerr, Junior. is a former American international.
In 1972, Kerr became a member of the New York Cosmos.