Carl Stephen Harris (born 3 November 1956 in Neath) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

former international

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 ...

. As a winger, Harris was noted for his express pace. Former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

captain

Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich To ...

is on record as saying Harris was the most difficult opponent he ever faced.

Playing career

Leeds United

He was signed professionally for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in 1973 by

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

. Harris played under

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...

and

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

at Leeds and alongside Billy Bremner,

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...

, Norman Hunter, Allan Clarke,

Paul Madeley Paul Edward Madeley (20 September 1944 – 23 July 2018) was an English footballer, who played for Leeds United and the England national team. During his career with Leeds, Madeley played in a variety of different playing positions which led to ...

Paul Reaney Paul Reaney (born 22 October 1944) is an English former international footballer. He played primarily as a right-sided full-back. He made 745 first-team appearances at Leeds United from 1962 to 1978, winning six major trophies under Don Revi ...

and Eddie Gray. A week after signing for Leeds, a young homesick Harris had returned to South Wales. However, Leeds thought he was worth pursuing and sent former player

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-ro ...

to persuade him to return. On 6 November 1974, Harris made his first team debut for Leeds, three days after his 18th birthday, in a European Cup second round tie at Elland Road v Hungarian champions Ujpest Dosza, coming on as a second-half substitute for Peter Lorimer in a 3–0 win. Five months later on 19 April 1975 Harris made his League debut, again coming on as a substitute, this time for Johnny Giles in a Division One match against Ipswich Town at Elland Road. Leeds went on to win that game 2–1, with Harris netting the winner. Harris reminisced,

It was brilliant to be honest. Trevor Cherry had equalised and I was on hand to win us the game. The Ipswich goalkeeper, Laurie Sivell, pushed Billy Bremner's shot away to his right and it looked like the ball was going out but I managed to get a left foot shot in which Sivell could only parry into his goal. It was right in front of the Kop and a great moment.

Harris went on to play 156 (30 of which were as a sub) league games for Leeds, scoring 26 league goals, including ending the 1980–81 season as the club's top scorer with 10 goals. Counting cup matches Harris played a total of 176 games (40 as sub) for the club, scoring 29 goals. Following one game against Arsenal at Highbury, where Harris tormented the home side all afternoon, he was reportedly subject of £700,000 bid from the Gunners, in a time when 1 million pound transfers were still unusual. Harris had been set to return to Leeds in 1985. Having played a few games for the Central League side to prove his fitness he was set to sign, but Leeds manager Eddie Gray was sacked and the deal fell through.

Later career

Out of contract, he finally left Elland Road in 1982 in a £100,000 move to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Following his move to London, Harris struggled with injuries but went on to play 76 times (7 goals) for Charlton, 38 games (4 goals) for

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, 25 games (3 goals) for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

and 16 games (1 goal) for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. In between leaving Bury and signing for Rochdale, Harris also turned out briefly for Airdrieonians, a club then managed by former Leeds teammate

Gordon McQueen Gordon McQueen (born 26 June 1952) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for St Mirren, Leeds United and Manchester United. McQueen also represented Scotland. Playing career Club McQueen was a goalkeeper as a ...

. Following his English League career Harris finished his playing days back in Neath as player-manager of local

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2 ...

side Briton Ferry Athletic before spending four years in the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

Wales

Harris won 24 full international caps and 1 under-23 cap (v Scotland) for Wales, all gained while at

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. Harris scored his only international goal in a 1–0 win against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in a 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. He made his full international debut in March 1976 against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, some eleven months after his club debut for Leeds. Harris picked up the last of his 24 caps in another game against England, at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in April 1982.

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Carl 1956 births Living people Footballers from Neath Men's association football wingers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's under-23 international footballers Wales men's international footballers English Football League players Scottish Football League players Leeds United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Bury F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Rochdale A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Carmarthen Town A.F.C. players Maesteg Park A.F.C. players Afan Lido F.C. players Ton Pentre F.C. players Cymru Premier players