Jerry Kerr - Success in The '60s

Success in The '60s

Kerr first policy upon joining United was his insistence that his players be full-time. A gamble that could have cost the club dearly. He also insisted that there had to be a properly constituted reserve side and an end to the previous policy of buying in over-the-hill First Division players. In the summer of 1960 the gamble paid off, after beating his former club Berwick Rangers at Tannadice, Kerr's United had secured second place in Division Two and promotion to Scotland's top flight. The records show that Kerr had more than doubled attendances at Tannadice in his first season in charge.

They doubled again the following season as United retained their place, and with players like Ron Yeats and the striking partnership Dennis Gillespie (who Kerr had brought with him from Alloa) and Jim Irvine scoring 21 and 23 goals respectively not only did United finish a highly creditable ninth, but they topped their city rivals by a point.

Kerr was also imaginative and inspired with some of his signings. With Hal Stewart of Morton, he was the first to see the possibility of tapping Scandinavia for cultured players at an affordable price. And by 1964, Lennart Wing, Finn Døssing, Mogens Berg and Örjan Persson were Tannadice stalwarts.

Off the field, Kerr was just as remarkable. He had been greatly taken by the success of Warwickshire County Cricket Club in raising money for the rebuilding of Edgbaston through the medium of a football pool. The English county made hundreds of thousands of pounds from this idea and a conversation with their secretary, Les Deakin led Kerr to set up Taypools, which, for about a decade, brought money cascading into the club. Using his great capacity for lateral thinking and an ability to adapt and even improve the ideas of others he helped secure the finance of the growing club. As well as raising money to invest in the squad Kerr's Taypools helped rebuild some of Tannadice, building the new West ("The Shed") and North stands and the opening of, what was at the time the state-of-the-art, Main Stand which was later, fittingly, renamed The Jerry Kerr Stand.

Kerr is also credited with another landmark moment in the club's history, as he led United into their first ever European tie in 1966. This produced an astonishing 4-1 aggregate victory over FC Barcelona in the Fairs Cup, which included a 2–1 win at the Nou Camp.