George Kerr’s two spells as Lincoln City manager ended unhappily, but the bare facts do not tell the whole story. The Scot was placed in charge of the Imps twice and inherited difficult situations on both occasions.
His first spell lasted barely six months, while his second ended shortly before City became the first club automatically relegated from the Football League. However, Kerr’s influence at Sincil Bank went beyond results, with several players he helped to identify and develop going on to enjoy successful careers.
Kerr began his playing career as a 17-year-old inside forward with Barnsley before going on to represent Bury and Oxford United. His final club was Scunthorpe United, where a badly broken leg kept him out of action for more than a year.
He eventually regained his place and helped Scunthorpe win promotion in 1972, with the Iron finishing one point above Lincoln in the final promotion position. After another season in the Third Division, Kerr ended his playing career and was offered the position of trainer-coach at Sincil Bank by Graham Taylor.
Working Under Graham Taylor
Taylor and Kerr had originally been introduced by Taylor’s father, who had been reporting on Scunthorpe’s matches for a local newspaper. Once reunited at Lincoln, Kerr worked closely with Taylor and Bert Loxley. The three men would discuss the first-team squad during the week before Kerr assumed responsibility for the youth side. Taylor had placed considerable importance on rebuilding City’s youth structure, with Brendan Guest and Dean Crombie among those beginning to make an impression.
Taylor’s departure for Watford in 1977 left Kerr with a decision to make. He had the opportunity to follow him south and was also offered a trainer-coach position at Scunthorpe, but accepted the chance to become Lincoln City manager. With hindsight, Kerr believed the timing had been wrong. Following Taylor was never going to be straightforward, particularly because several senior players remained fiercely loyal to the departing manager.
Some subsequently followed Taylor to Watford, leaving Kerr to oversee a squad which was beginning to break apart. Percy Freeman announced his retirement during the close season, Sam Ellis also departed and Dave Smith was struggling with injury. Ian Branfoot had stopped playing to become Kerr’s assistant, removing another experienced figure from the team. Within three matches of the new campaign, the Imps also lost captain and principal striker John Ward to an injury which kept him out for most of the season.
Building for the Future
Kerr’s response was to turn towards youth. Shortly before Taylor left, Kerr, Taylor, Branfoot and Loxley had travelled north to watch Lambton Boys Club play, with four members of the team subsequently signed by City. All four went on to play league football with varying degrees of success. Keith Laybourne and Alan Eden began their senior careers at Lincoln, while Mick Smith later became better known through his time with Wimbledon.
The outstanding discovery was Mick Harford, who went on to represent England. Kerr would later point to the players coming through the club as evidence that he could have constructed a strong side if given sufficient time. His first league selection of the 1977/78 season underlined the situation he had inherited. With Ellis gone, Kerr selected the inexperienced Smith and named Eden among the substitutes.
Results were not encouraging, and City had to wait until their seventh match for a first victory. The pressure continued to grow, with Kerr aware before an October game against Rotherham United that his position was under threat. His dismissal finally came after a 2-0 defeat at Gillingham in the middle of December. It was the match in which Harford made his league debut, but it proved to be Kerr’s last after only six months in charge.
Willie Bell replaced him and kept City in the Third Division without making any new signings. For Kerr, that demonstrated that the squad he had assembled was capable of surviving and that he had not been given enough time to produce the required results. He also believed a strong team could have been built around the younger players coming through at Sincil Bank. Alongside Harford, Kerr had helped to discover and coach Brendan Guest, Gordon Hobson and Glenn Cockerill.
Success Away From Lincoln
Kerr returned to football with Grimsby Town, initially working as assistant manager to John Newman. When Newman left to take charge of Derby County, Kerr succeeded him and guided the Mariners to the Third Division title in 1980. Grimsby then threatened to produce another promotion challenge in the Second Division. They reached third place with seven matches remaining, but their form fell away and they finished the season in seventh.
Kerr later moved to Rotherham United before receiving an opportunity to return to Sincil Bank in 1985. By coincidence, he was at Derby in November when the Imps suffered a 7-0 defeat. The following day, a Lincoln director telephoned to ask whether he would be interested in returning to the club. John Pickering was still the manager at that stage, and Kerr was told he would receive another call later that day.
Nothing further happened until a month later, when City lost 4-0 at Cardiff and Pickering was dismissed. Kerr was then formally offered the job and accepted the chance to begin a second spell in charge.
A Second Fight Against Relegation
His first match back came against his former club Rotherham United. City earned a creditable away draw, collecting their first point since November 6. There were signs of progress as Kerr attempted to steer the Imps away from danger. Three successive victories in March 1986, including one against promotion-chasing Reading, offered genuine hope that relegation could be avoided. April proved disastrous, with City winning only once during the month. Survival remained possible when they travelled to Cardiff City for their final away fixture, but a 2-1 defeat sent the Imps into the Fourth Division.
The following season started with renewed optimism. New signing Gary Lund impressed during a 3-1 opening-day victory against Colchester United, and by December City were sixth in the table and appeared capable of mounting a promotion challenge.
Then everything began to unravel. Ten defeats followed during a run of 13 matches, prompting the board to decide that another change was required. Kerr felt that, had he been allowed to continue, City would have avoided relegation to the Conference. He also believed the board should have appointed someone with managerial experience as his replacement.
That did not happen, and the campaign ended with City finishing bottom of the Fourth Division. The Imps consequently became the first club to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League.
More Than the Results
Kerr went on to manage Boston United and later accepted a scouting position with Southampton. In 1991, speaking to the Lincolnshire Echo he admitted his affection for Lincoln City had not disappeared. He maintained that the club had been in a healthy position when he left. There were also tangible signs of the work he had done behind the scenes, particularly in the players who had emerged during his time at Sincil Bank.
In his first season back with the Imps, goalkeeper Stuart Naylor was sold for £100,000. The following campaign saw Gary Strodder move to West Ham United for the same amount, while Lee Butler was later sold to Aston Villa for another £100,000 after Kerr’s departure.
Results will always define a manager, and Kerr’s Lincoln record cannot be separated from two relegations. However, neither spell began from a position of strength, and both ended before he felt he had been given sufficient time. What he did leave behind was a collection of young players who would go on to establish themselves in the game. Some achieved far more than might have been expected when Kerr first helped bring them to Sincil Bank.
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