Where Are They Now?                                   Profiles of ex-Luton players

Kerry Dixon

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Height: 6ft. Weight: 13st, 10lb. Born: Luton, 24.07.1961. Nationality: England. International Honours: England, 8 full caps, England U-21, 1 cap.

Luton-born Kerry was firstly a Tottenham apprentice, but got a first taste of League football for his next club Reading.  Joining the Elm Park outfit for £20,000, he scored 51 league goals in 116 appearances before a £175,000 move to Chelsea in August 1983.  He went on to be a prolific marksman at Stamford Bridge scoring 147 goals in 335 appearances and earning international honours with England along the way.

He left Chelsea in 1992 after losing his first-team place and he signed for their Premiership rivals Southampton for £575,000.  However, after only 9 League appearances and 2 goals at The Dell, he joined Luton initially on loan and then permanently on a free transfer in February 1993.

The bulk of Dixon's professional career was sandwiched between rejection by Luton as a teenager and joining them in February 1993 at the age of 31.  "Luton were marvelous for me.  To run out there for the first time and score a few goals for them was great for me”  recalled Kerry Dixon in an interview with the Telegraph.  "The highlight [of his Luton career] was probably setting up two of Scott Oakes's goals when we beat West Ham 3-2 in the quarter-final to book our place against Chelsea.  But the semi-final itself was so disappointing."

Kerry Dixon in action.

He made 88 appearances for the Hatters, scoring 20 goals in the two years that he was at the club.  In a separate interview he said of his career, "Apart from playing for England, my best memory in football was playing for Luton, against Chelsea, in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in 1994.  Luton lost 2-0 but the reaction of the Chelsea fans to me was probably the greatest thing that has happened to me.  Every single Chelsea fan was singing, 'There's only one Kerry Dixon'.  It brought a lump to my throat."

He won eight caps internationally, scoring twice against Germany in a friendly tournament in Mexico in 1985, and scored 231 League goals in his career.  He joined Millwall from the Hatters in March 1995 for £5,000 and showed that he had lost none of his appetite for the game, when outscoring both of Millwall's big money summer signings.  He then went to Watford for £25,000 in January 1996 (11 appearances, 0 goals) and finished his playing days at Doncaster Rovers, playing 16 games and scoring 3 goals.  He became their player/manager, but was sacked in August 1997 and moved onto non-league Boreham Wood as player-coach.

Kerry faced the Hatters in an FA Cup match in November 1998, when two goals from Phil Gray and one from Steve Davis saw Luton to a 3-2 victory.  He went on to manage non-league Letchworth Garden City in the South Midlands Football League.  He also had a spell working in a pub, after taking on the lease of The Distillery, a pub in his home town of Dunstable.

He then became the assistant manager to Robbie O'Keefe at non-league neighbours Hitchin Town, and Kerry could also be heard as a regular commentator on Talk Sport.

In November 2003, Kerry became the Hitchin Town manager following O'Keefe's departure from Top Field.  He was to be assisted by Ian Donnelly (Assistant Manager) and Mark Burke (Coach) in a three-man management team.

Andy Melvin, managing director of Hitchin Town FC, said of the appointment: "We have opted for a three-man team that brings together a wide range of experiences and expertise. Kerry Dixon's vast experience as a player and coach will be a major boost to this club. But as well as Kerry's undoubted qualities, we are also going to rely on the local knowledge and credibility of two popular and well known figures. Ian Donnelly is a great character and well-liked among our supporters. Mark Burke's name has been synonymous with Hitchin Town for almost 20 years. Between these three, we should be able to build a solid platform for the future."

Kerry Dixon said: "I have been at the club since the summer and I know all about its restrictions and the abilities of our playing staff. I will be looking to focus on the strong points of each player and also to improve on the weaker aspects of their game. Right now we have a job to do to get the club away from the lower reaches of the League. I am confident we can bring about a significant improvement."

Dixon added: "I was brought to the club in the summer by Robbie O'Keefe, who was an excellent coach for Hitchin Town FC. It was a pleasure to work with him and I will always be glad that he gave me the chance to come to Hitchin."

Profile By:  Edd McArdle