Frederick Harrison (2 July 1880 – 21 November 1969) was an English professional

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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for various clubs in the 1900s and 1910s.

Playing career

Southampton

Born in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, he started his career with local sides Fitzhugh Rovers and Bitterne Guild in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

often playing in matches on

Southampton Common Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of th ...

where he was spotted by Joe Turner who recommended him to the

directors as a "fast goal-getter with a deadly shot". He made his debut for the "Saints" in the penultimate match of the 1900–01 Southern League championship season and during the summer he accompanied the team on their first foreign tour of Belgium,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

which was a great success with 44 goals scored (for 3 against) in six matches. During the following season, Harrison gradually established himself in the team on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, making 15 league appearances with five goals, generally replacing Joe Turner. Injury prevented him starting the following season and he only became a fixture in the side in mid-January. Moving to centre-forward he quickly found his form scoring five goals in consecutive home matches against

Wellingborough Town Wellingborough Town F.C. is a football club based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. They play in the United Counties Premier Division. The club was formed in 2004 after the previous club bearing the name had folded. History The ori ...

on 7 March 1903 (5–0) and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on 21 March (7–0). Despite making only thirteen appearances he finished the season as top scorer with 17 goals, as Southampton again claimed the Southern League championship. He now became the first choice centre-forward and in the 1903–04 season he was again top scorer with 27 goals from 32 league appearances with Southampton taking the championship title for the sixth (and final) time in eight seasons . He scored hat-tricks in a 5–1 victory over

on 7 December and in a 6–1 defeat of

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on 12 March 1904. As a result of his goal-scoring prowess in the Southern League he was given an international trial by

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 ...

(which was unsuccessful as he was played in an unfamiliar position) and was by now being chased by several leading clubs in the north. In the following season Harrison suffered from illness and as a result struggled to find the form which had made him such a success in the previous season. He regained some of his form in the following two seasons in both of which he was again top scorer with twelve goals. By now Southampton were beginning to struggle both on the pitch and financially and in November 1907, along with Fred Mouncher, he was sold to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

for a combined fee of £1,000. In his seven years with Southampton he made 166 appearances, scoring 88 goals, and was the club's top goal-scorer in 1902–03 (17 goals), 1903–04 (27 goals), 1905–06 (14 goals, jointly with Harry Brown) and 1906–07 (12 goals).

Fulham

He was never able to quite repeat his scoring feats at his later clubs although he did score five goals in one match for Fulham. In 1908 he helped Fulham reach the

FA Cup Semi-finals The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest Association football, football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always be ...

, with six goals in six cup appearances, including both Fulham goals in a 2–1 in quarter final victory over League leaders

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

. However, in the semi-final against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

Fulham were overwhelmed 6–0. He was Fulham's top scorer in both the 1908–09 and 1909–10 seasons with 13 and 14 league goals respectively. In his four seasons with Fulham he made a total of 132 appearances with 54 goals. Despite this his efforts were not sufficient to earn Fulham promotion to

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

West Ham United

In April 1911 he moved back to the Southern League with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, making his debut on Good Friday, 14 April 1911, scoring in a 4–1 victory over his former club,

. He also scored the only goal in the return match three days later. In the 1911–12 season, he scored 13 goals, partly making up for the loss of George Webb in December for the rest of the season. He formed a great partnership with Danny Shea and together they scored 40 goals in that season. 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 ...

, Harrison was part of the West Ham team that defeated

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

of the First Division in the Second Round in February 1912. Harrison scored West Ham's goal in the first match (drawn 1–1) and, despite carrying an injury from the first match, he scored the winner in the replay.

George Hilsdon George Richard Hilsdon (10 August 1885 – 10 September 1941) was a footballer who began his career at West Ham United, making his debut in the 1903–04 season. His brother Jack Hilsdon also played for West Ham at this time. Hilsdon transferred ...

replaced him in the front-line and in the 1912–13 season, Harrison was switched to play at

centre half 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 s ...

where he played several games, including a notable FA Cup tie against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in February 1913. In his two years with the "Hammers" he made 62 appearances, scoring 23 goals.

Honours

Southampton * Southern League championship:

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Fred 1880 births 1969 deaths Sportspeople from Winchester English men's footballers Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Hampshire