Gor Mahia Dylan Kerr has thanked the team’s technical staff together with the players after he was named the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) June coach of the month.
In a ceremony held at the Camp Toyoyo Grounds on Tuesday 24th July, the K’Ogalo boss said he was caught by surprise as he attended the event without knowledge of getting the award. “Honestly, when I came here I did not know that it was me getting this award,” he said.
Kerr was unanimously voted by the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) Football Commission after going unbeaten that month, winning all the five games played scoring fifteen goals and conceding only one to collect all the 15 points. He was awarded a trophy and Ksh. 75,000.
“I have to say thank you to the technical staff who have been amazing during this period. They have helped me a great deal, that is why we are here. My players too have been amazing and I can’t take that away from them,” Kerr acknowledged the brilliant work being done by his backroom staff and his players in general.
‘No matter who is selected, they have done a brilliant job and that is why we are getting these results,’ he added.
The defending champions have had a fine run in the month of June, thrashing Wazito FC 4-0, which was followed by a 3-1 victory over Nzoia Sugar. They went on to humble Ulinzi Stars 2-0 before dismantling Posta Rangers 5-0. The month of June was ended by a 1-0 win over Sony Sugar.
‘We respected every opponent we faced in the month of June and all I can say is that teamwork and dedication helped us grind the results. Despite taking part in many competitions and playing a match every three days, we are happy to have won all our fixtures,’ he added.
He was nominated alongside Sofapaka tactician John Baraza but the Kogalo coach triumphed in a landslide vote carried out by football writers. His team is currently top of the log with 52 points from 20 matches.
Kerr began his career at Sheffield Wednesday in 1984. He didn’t make any league appearances for the club in his four years at Hillsborough and left to join South African club Arcadia Shepherds in 1988. A year later, Kerr returned to England to join Leeds United. He only made thirteen league appearances in his four years at Elland Road; however, he was also loaned out to two clubs: firstly Doncaster Rovers (with whom he scored his first League goal), then Blackpool. In his three-month spell at Blackpool in 1991–92, he scored one of the team’s goals in a 5–2 victory over Lancashire rivals and eventual division champions Burnley at Bloomfield Road.
In 1993, Kerr joined Reading, with whom he would make the most league appearances of his career: 89, including five goals. He was a member of the Royals’ Division Two championship-winning side, and also when the club finished runners-up in the Division One the following season.
In 1996, Kerr signed for Scottish club Kilmarnock. He made 61 league appearances for Killie in four years. At the end of his first season with the club, he won the Scottish Cup. Not long after the Ibrox final, Kerr suffered a recurring groin injury that kept him on the sidelines for over a year. Kerr was eventually released by Kilmarnock, and after one league game on loan to Carlisle United he joined Slough Town in October 2000.
In September 2000, Kerr briefly joined Kidderminster Harriers on trial, but his one-month contract was cancelled due to a claimed breach of club discipline. He returned to Scotland, signing for Hamilton Academical in January 2001.
Over the next three years, he played for Exeter City (on a three-month contract), Greenock Morton, Harrogate Town, East Stirlingshire and Hamilton Academical once again, before finishing his career with Scottish junior club Kilwinning Rangers in 2003.