Gerry Jordan

DOB: 7th March 1955

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 1982/83

Season of last appearance: 1983/84

Full Appearances: 43

Substitute: 2

Goals: 7

Also played for:

Ramsgate, Deal Town, Folkestone & Shepway, Faversham Town, Herne Bay, Canterbury City and Sheppey United.

Player Profile:

Battling striker who started his career with Ramsgate as an 18-year-old during the 1973-74 season. At the time, Gerry was described as being "quick and brave in the box" by the Rams' manager Jack Smith and he added that Gerry showed "genuine promise".

He moved to Deal for the 1974-75 campaign but rejoined Ramsgate in January 1976, Gerry had scored 33 goals in his last 18 games for Deal at the time. On 24.1.76, he was sent off for the Rams in a match against Bognor Regis and, on 16.3.76, Gerry scored four goals in a 5-4 win at Hastings.

In November 1976, he moved to Folkestone & Shepway but returned to the Rams again in February 1977.

Gerry then spent the early part of the 1977-78 campaign with Faversham but left them in October 1977 having been sent off twice in quick succession. He then joined Herne Bay later in the season.

He spent the 1978-79 campaign there too and also played once for Canterbury during the season but, in March 1980, Gerry returned to Ramsgate once again.

He then played for Sheppey during 1980/81 and Gerry was selected in the Kent League's representative side during the campaign before moving on to Deal for 1981-82. He was also selected for a Kent League XI for a match against the Sussex League at Sheppey United on 10.11.82.

In November 1982, Gerry joined Thanet United on loan from Deal and made his debut in 1-0 defeat at Basingstoke on 6.11.82. Three days later, he made his home debut, scoring with a volley from ten yards in a 1-1 draw with Gravesend & Northfleet.

Gerry then returned to Deal and took his career tally of goals for them to 40 in 119 appearances but in January 1983 he signed for United on a permanent basis. Although he struggled for goals early on, the Isle of Thanet Gazette said that he "considerably gingered up the strike force". In February 1983, Gerry had to serve a two-week ban for being sent off in a Sunday League game for his club Margate Athletic but he began to find his scoring touch when he returned to action. On 19.3.83, what the Thanet Times called "one magic moment of memorable opportunism" from Gerry gave United a 1-0 win at Dover. He beat two defenders and unleashed a shot from just outside area that screamed into the bottom corner past Joe Radford. He scored three times more before the end of the 1982-83 campaign to finish the season with a record of 17 appearances and five goals. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said that Gerry had "repeatedly impressed with his willingness to take a man on and become involved in the box".

He stayed with United for the 1983-84 season but Gerry was plagued by injuries. The worst of them was an ankle injury sustained in a game at Salisbury on 12.11.83 that kept him out of action until February 1984. As a result, Gerry only made 28 appearances (two of them as a substitute) and scored just two goals during the season. The first was a memorable effort, Gerry beat two defenders before firing home from a narrow angle in a 4-1 defeat at Tonbridge on 25.2.84. He left United in the summer of 1984 and joined Herne Bay for the 1984-85 campaign.

Gerry rejoined Ramsgate towards the end of the 1985-86 season but only played a handful of matches before breaking his leg. He had another spell with the Rams during the 1990-91 campaign, scoring once in two first-team appearances and also finding the net three times in 14 games for the reserves.

He played the last football of his career during the 1990's when he turned out for Thanet League club Margate Athletic Old Boys whose squad of veterans also included a host of other former Margate/Thanet players.

In 2011, Gerry was living in Margate.