Robert Harrop (25 August 1936 – 8 November 2007) was an English

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 ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and played in the Football League for Manchester United and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. Harrop joined Manchester United as a youth team player in 1953 and was an FA Youth Cup winner in 1954 and later graduated to the reserve side after turning professional. His first team debut came on 5 March 1958, a month after the Munich air disaster – where eight players were killed and two never played again due to injury, while several other players were still recovering from their injuries. His debut was against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fifth round replay. He made a further five appearances that season, and five more in 1958–59, but never became a regular player and was sold to Tranmere Rovers for £4,000 in 1961. He spent two seasons at Prenton Park before quitting league football at the age of 27, when he signed for non league

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He played 564 games for the

Hartsdown Park Hartsdown Park is a football stadium located in Margate, Kent, England. It has been the home of Margate F.C. (known as Thanet United F.C. between 1981 and 1989) since 1929, apart from between 2002 and 2005, when the club was forced to share t ...

club in two spells until 1978. In between these he clocked over a century appearances at both Ashford Town (Kent) and Canterbury City, where he became player-manager for the final two seasons of his stay. Then at the age of 42 he signed for neighbouring Ramsgate. 52 appearances came over the next two seasons and he carried on playing until he was nearly 50, finally hanging up his boots at the end of the 1984–85 season with

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

, where he was also in charge of the reserve team. He remained in football as a non-league referee, a role he held until just before his death in November 2007 at the age of 71.

External links

MUFCInfo.com profileMargate FC profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrop, Bobby 1936 births 2007 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Manchester Manchester United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Margate F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. managers Ramsgate F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Men's association football central defenders English Football League players English football managers