Michael Kerr Inducted Into Hall of Fame
March 11, 2026
On Friday night at our Hall of Fame and Merit Awards Dinner, we inducted Michael Kerr into our Hall of Fame.
Below is the speech given by Neil Jardine Fermanagh and Western Football League Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now come to the main award of the evening, the posthumous award of the Fermanagh & Western Football League Hall of Fame to Michael Kerr. If you don’t mind, I have chosen to refer to him as Michael throughout this as that is what Donna called him when we met. The fourteenth of June 2025 is a day when Donna, Annie Mae, Cara and Colleen, Dee, Dessie and Michelle suffered an unbearable loss when Michael was taken from them far too soon at the age of forty. For the rest of us, his friends, teammates, those that new him through work and football, it provided us with what I would describe as a “President Kennedy or Princess Diana moment”; we all knew exactly where we were when we heard the shocking news and felt a terrible sense of disbelief. The fact that so many of the players who played with him and under him at Enniskillen Rangers were all together in Mulhern’s to honour his service was surreal, and many would have taken a small comfort from not being alone when the news was received. I have put a lot of thought into how I would structure and deliver this tonight, shortly after Michael’s funeral I had decided to recommend to the League Committee at our November meeting that he would be the recipient, subject to the approval of Donna. When I contacted her, she was absolutely delighted that the League would choose to honour Michael in this way. I met with Donna to talk about Michael and gain the personal angle, she offered to give me some thoughts she had written down after receiving the letter from our Secretary; my original thought was to include excerpts from this within my oration but I have decided, with the blessing of Donna to read it out in full. I also reached out to James McKenna; a close friend of Michael’s, and I will also read what he and other acquaintances have written down. Other information comes from articles written by Tony Roofe and Roy Cathcart for the local press.
Michael Kerr, the man, the myth, the legend. At least two parts of this phrase accurately describe Michael, if you take the definition of myth, it refers to a widely held but sometimes false belief, often referencing an invented story, supernatural occurrence or folklore. But there was no myth about Michael Kerr, his striking of a football with that left foot may have been other wordily at times, but ultimately what you seen was what you got. From his early days kicking a ball at the back of the goals at Derrychara whilst his father Dessie played in very successful Enniskillen Rangers team, managed by his uncle Paul Keenan and including another Uncle Joe Keenan, it was always apparent that the game would play a large part in his life. Rising through the youth game, he earned schoolboy caps for Northern Ireland and excelled in the then Milk Cup at both U-14 & U-16 levels. He quickly progressed to adult football in a career that took him full circle from Enniskillen Rangers to Ballinamallard United, Monaghan Town, Enniskillen Town United and back. During his time with Enniskillen Town United, Michael won the Mercer League twice and Mulhern Cup once in the 2007/08 double season. In 2013, he returned to his home club Enniskillen Rangers, who had suffered a major reversal of fortunes in the previous ten years with relegation to the third division, regaining their Mercer league status for the 2010-11 season. At the end of the 2014-15 season, Rangers held interviews for a new manager, and there were some raised eyebrows when Michael announced he wished to be considered for the job, as he was only thirty and still a mainstay of the team that were starting to establish themselves at the highest level. The interviews were held and those in the room where totally blown away by the professional preparation and vision Michael brought before them. Donna recalls the A4 folder that she helped him prepare with all his thoughts on how to progress and become successful. Despite other strong candidates, the panel had no option but to back Michael’s vision and drive. It was a busy time at home as Michael and Donna had just welcomed Annie Mae into their lives and he was throwing himself headlong into club management. However, there was never an issue as Donna stood fully behind him as always; indeed, she bought him a tactics book for the start of the season, something that would become a regular tradition and those books which charted every match and recorded every event are now treasured possessions and memories. It was not long before Rangers were making serious inroads into the established powers in local football, aided by the opening of the outstanding facilities at The Ball Range. Michael was extremely proud of the set-up and all who contributed to its success; Roy Cathcart recalls when the first stand was being constructed it was a joint effort by the club members and Michael was in the middle of it with a wheelbarrow and shovel.
On May 7th, 2017, Enniskillen Rangers travelled to Windsor Park to take on Greenisland in the Irish Junior Cup Final, and romped home 5-1 in a fantastic day for the club – the success Michael had planned for had come to fruition, but there was no time to sit back and rest on laurels. During that season Michael brought Tony Roofe back into football after a gap of twenty years and Tony recalls the drive and determination Michael displayed following this win – he knew there was much more for this team to give and he proved it. The Junior Cup was retained for the next two years, only the third team in the 139year history of the competition to win three-in-a-row. A fourth final in a row was reached during the covid year of 2020, losing out on penalties to Willowbank, a match Michael did not look back on fondly as he was sent off late in the second half and felt he had let himself and his team down. The success was total during this time, with the Mercer League returning twice to the club for the first time since 1999 and an unbeaten record in the Kennedy Cup Final. 2021 saw Michael take a step back from management but he continued to play and that season he secured a full set of medals for Rangers as a player in the 2022 Mulhern Cup Final. The break was short lived, and he was back in the hotseat for the start of the following campaign, doing what he loved and what few were better at. Another Junior Cup and Mercer League double followed and in September 2024, Michael produced a masterstroke in game management and motivation when Enniskillen Rangers defeated Cockhill Celtic in the IFA/FAI President’s Cup to become the first, and still only, Northern Ireland Team to be called All Ireland Champions. Donna recalls Michael talking down their chances of winning all week as he was missing a number of key players and having scouted Cockhill knew their pedigree. During this time, the League re-instated the tradition of a representative match at the end of the season with the Sligo & Leitrim District Soccer League as opponents and Michael was appointed to the role for two years, something he told me personally he was honoured to do and his efforts for those first two years have ensured that it is now an event players want to be involved with and look forward to. The professionalism he displayed on this task was an eye-opener for some of the players coming in from other clubs.
Four Junior Cups, three Mercer Leagues, five Kennedy Cups and a President’s Cup are an outstanding endorsement of Michael Kerr, the manager but do not represent Michael Kerr the man. More than one person has recalled how Michael was a confidant to a number of players in his time; a true leader who knew how to show empathy and respect, always available to listen and a friend who would go out of their way to check if someone was OK in a quiet and unobtrusive manner. When you talk to Donna and his friends, they are all quick to acknowledge that he was the one to organise nights out, owning the WhatsApp group and regaling anyone who thought they might be otherwise engaged when summoned to go out. James McKenna told me that Michael organised a reunion of players from their Milk Cup Team over Christmas 2024 and made sure that boys who they had not seen for years and were no longer involved in football turned up; why did they turn up, because Michael made the effort to contact each of them individually.
When I talked to Donna, she was so pleased that Michael was not only being honoured but also remembered by this award, to further this I am pleased to announce that Donna has agreed to provide an annual award in his name. At this year’s Team of the Year Awards Dinner, the leading scorer in the Mercer League will be awarded the Michael Kerr Memorial Cup.
We are all here tonight primarily through our shared love of football and the major and sometimes all-consuming part it plays in our life, we are prone to fall in and out depending on which way the wind blows but we should all remember that it is still only a game. The outworkings of this were there for all to see when Enniskillen fell silent for Michael’s funeral, as many have remarked the closest thing our town has seen to a state funeral. The unified and dignified respect shown by every football club in the area and echoed by other sports was a standout memory of the day but no less than Michael Kerr, the man, the legend but definitely not a myth deserved.
Thank you everyone for sticking with me through this, I could have written so much more from the chats and stories shared by so many people about Michael, and we all know that there are probably many stories that should not be aired in public. Tonight, our League has suitably honoured his contribution to Enniskillen Rangers and football in the Fermanagh & Western area; this was a small part of his legacy. The true barometer of Michael as person lay in the genuine respect he engendered amongst those who knew him, played with him and under him, worked with him, the always positive and smiling outlook, but even these qualities paled into insignificance when measured against the love he had for Donna, his three wonderful daughters and his mother, father and sister; they will never forget him, nor should we.
Acceptance Speech by Donna Kerr
On behalf of Michael and our family, I would like to sincerely thank the Management Committee of the Fermanagh & Western Football League for this incredible honour.
Michael would have been genuinely proud to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Football was not just a sport to him, it was a lifelong passion that began at a very young age, watching his father play. It was commitment. It was belonging. It was where friendships were formed and memories were made.
He gave so much of himself to the game, not for recognition, but because he truly loved it and the people within it. One of his players once thanked me for “giving Michael to them for so long,” and I replied, “Thank you for making memories for our family that will last a lifetime.” That’s what football gave us, shared memories that we will always treasure.
I would like to thank everyone who worked alongside Michael over the years, his trusted sidekicks, Freddie and Tony; the many Enniskillen Rangers players, past and present; the committee; the league itself; the clubs within it; and his good friends who supported him regardless of if they stood on opposing sides, the rivalry ended at the final whistle, win, lose or draw.
This evening is particularly special to us, as Michael is being honoured on the eve of what would have been his 41st birthday. It means so much to our family to know that his life, commitment, and contribution to football are being recognised in this way.
Michael was proud of all the wins, but there were moments that stood out to him. The first Junior Cup win at Windsor Park, experiencing the build-up to a final for the very first time, walking out onto the pitch with our daughter Annie Mae and his godson Noah, and then going on to win three in a row.
The final Junior Cup and league win in 2024 were especially meaningful to Michael. There had been no silverware since the Mulhern Cup win in 2022, so to see the team lift those trophies again meant a great deal to him. There’s a photo from that Junior Cup win where Michael is standing holding the cup, surrounded by his players, with supporters packed into the background. He loved that photo. It captured everything the players beside him, the supporters behind them, and the pride he felt in being their manager.
The league decider against Strathroy in front of a full house at The Ball Range, a match that changed the trajectory of Fermanagh & Western football, with Rangers becoming one of the dominant teams in the league.
Becoming the first team from Northern Ireland to win the All-Ireland President’s Cup in Ballinamallard. He loved to joke with his MFC colleagues who were all All-Ireland winners with Dublin and Kerry that he was now an All-Ireland medal holder too.
Managing the Fermanagh & Western Select side in 2022 and 2023 and winning both matches. This meant a great deal to Michael. He eventually got to work alongside his good friend James McKenna, he could never get him to play for him, so this was the next best thing for Michael, he got to manage some of his friends and many of the talented players he had quietly respected for years, even when they were rivals on the other side of the pitch.
I hold in my hand one of Michael’s many tactic books. I bought him his very first one when he took on the role of player-manager with Rangers back in 2015. He loved these books and would go through two or three of them each season. His preparation was always impeccable and professional, from scouting teams thoroughly, to having me print off tactical sheets and opposition player profiles before big games for his players to study. Nothing was ever left to chance. He had a winning mentality and a tactical mind that often turned them from underdogs into victors. There were games the team probably shouldn’t have won, but they did, because Michael got the game plan right, and his players executed it. More than that, he built a family culture within his team. That culture created loyalty, something that was deeply important to him.
But for me, Michael’s legacy as a player and manager isn’t found only in the cups or medals he and the team won. It’s the moments after the final whistle, when the girls would run onto the pitch to celebrate with him after a win, or just as proudly to comfort their daddy after a loss. Those were the moments that meant the most to Michael. They represented everything he believed football should be about, family, loyalty, respect, and togetherness.
What made Michael such a good manager? The same qualities that made him a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, uncle, colleague and friend. He was loyal. He was positive. He was always happy and that happiness was infectious. You never just heard from Michael once in a day. It could be three or four times, or even more. He was always there. You could always get him… well, maybe apart from the day or two after a cup win. I sometimes found him a little harder to reach then, but I’m fairly sure that was tactical too, because he knew if I got him, he’d have to come home.
We are so proud of him, not just for what he achieved, but for the man he was and the values he stood for.
Thank you for honouring Michael in this way. It means more to us than words can truly express.
