William Charles Harris (31 October 1928 – December 1989) was a Welsh

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played for his

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

side and Middlesbrough and later became a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Career

Bill Harris started his footballing career with local club

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

but failed to graduate beyond the third team and so moved to Llanelli in 1949. After just six months at the club he signed for Hull City for £2,000. He played 131 games for Hull before a move to Middlesbrough in March 1954 for £15,000. Harris, a wing half, played 378 games, scoring 72 goals for Middlesbrough and was capped for Wales. He won his first Welsh cap against Austria in May 1954 in Vienna but had to wait three years for his second cap. Harris had the distinction of scoring a goal in just 11 seconds in a 5-1 FA cup win against Shrewsbury Town in 1962. In March 1965, he joined

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

as their third player-manager following the departure of

Bob Brocklebank Bob Brocklebank (8 April 1908 – September 1981) was an English footballer and manager. He played for Aston Villa and Burnley, where he was top goalscorer in 1937-38 before becoming a manager, at Chesterfield, Birmingham City, Hull City and ...

. He took charge at a struggling club, during its darkest days, and in his first season, the club had finished 19th in

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. The following season the club's problems continued and Harris resigned a year after he took over with the club heading towards re-election. His stay also signalled the end of his playing career, when he was injured during a 7–1 defeat to Crewe Alexandra and was advised to stop playing. In November 1967, he returned to Teesside as manager-coach of non-league Stockton, before he retired in May 1969. He later worked for an insurance firm in Middlesbrough. He died in Middlesbrough in 1989 after suffering several strokes.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bill 1928 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Wales international footballers English Football League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. managers Association football wing halves Welsh football managers