George Cecil Harkus

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(25 September 1898 – 28 September 1950) 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 half back for

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 ...

in the 1920s before serving with distinction in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Playing career

Early days

Harkus was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and played his youth football with Nuns Moor in Newcastle, before moving to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

where he played for Edinburgh Emmett. He then returned to

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

to join

Scotswood Benwell and Scotswood is an electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. The ward encompasses the Benwell and Scotswood housing areas, as well as the Newcastle Business Park, which is located on the banks of the River Tyne and ...

. In May 1921 he joined

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 ...

as an amateur, signing as a professional in February 1922. He made four First Division appearances for Villa before being sold to

for £250 in May 1923.

Southampton

He made his first team debut for the "Saints" at The Dell on 19 January 1924 replacing

Alec Campbell Alexander William Campbell (26 February 1899 – 16 May 2002) was the final surviving Australian participant of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.Shaw, John"Alec Campbell, Last Anzac at Gallipoli, Dies at 103" ''The New York Ti ...

at left-half in a 6–0 victory over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. By the end of his first season on the south coast he had played 14 games and had appeared on either side of the half-backs line. In the following season he only missed two league matches as Saints' poor league form led to the resignation of manager

Jimmy McIntyre James Alfred McIntyre (31 October 1881 – 1954) was an English footballer who became manager at Southampton, Coventry City and Fulham. Playing career McIntyre was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He was a journeyman player of some repute, ...

. Caretaker manager George Goss led them on a run 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 ...

, defeating

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in round 4, to reach the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

, where they were defeated 2–0 by

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on 28 March 1925. After a run of four defeats at the start of the 1925–26 season, Harkus was dropped in favour of

Stan Woodhouse Stanley Woodhouse (10 February 1899 – 18 March 1977) was an English footballer who played initially as an inside forward and later as a half back with Bury and Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Playing career Woodhouse was born in Warringt ...

. In October, Saints appointed

Arthur Chadwick Arthur Chadwick (July 1875 – 21 March 1936) was a professional footballer whose playing career as a centre-half included spells at Portsmouth and Southampton, before going on to be manager at Exeter City, Reading and Southampton. He also mad ...

as manager, who re-instated Harkus in the team at the expense of Campbell in November; he retained the left-back place for the rest of the season. In the 1926–27 season, Chadwick settled on his favoured line-up with eleven players featuring in at least 35 of the 42 league games; this included a half back line-up of

Bert Shelley Frederick Albert "Bert" Shelley (11 August 1899 – 29 December 1971) was an English footballer, who played as a half back for Southampton, for whom he made nearly 450 appearances, before becoming a coach at Southampton. His total of 448 appeara ...

, Harkus (in the centre) and Woodhouse on the left, in front of full-backs

Michael Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English association football, footballer and coach (sport), manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning c ...

and Ted Hough. Described by Holley & Chalk as "a man of dynamic personality" and "tremendously energetic and enthusiastic, he was a natural captain who put so much into a game that, when the 90 minutes were up, he was often ''all in''." Harkus featured strongly in Saints' run to their second FA Cup semi-final in two years, this time losing 2–1 to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 26 March 1927. Although Harkus never received full international honours he came close, joining an F.A. tour of Canada in 1926, along with teammates

and

Bill Rawlings William Ernest Rawlings (3 January 1896 – 25 September 1972) was an English footballer. A centre-forward, he scored more than 196 goals in 367 league games in a 15-year career. He began his career with Southampton in 1918, who were elevated f ...

. In the 1927–28 season, Harkus continued as team captain and missed only one match as Saints again finished in the lower half of the table. For the next two seasons his appearances were more irregular as age and injuries caught up with him. In the summer of 1930 he decided to quit; Southampton were reluctant to release him from his registration and placed a transfer fee of £750 on his head. In his initial seven-year period with Southampton he made 233 appearances (with five goals); all his league matches were in the Second Division in a period during which the Saints struggled financially and were generally forced to sell their better players to survive.

Sojourn abroad

Harkus spent the rest of 1930 in France with

Lyon OU Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season af ...

, before returning to England. After an unsuccessful trial with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

, he settled in

New Milton New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History Ne ...

where he ran the Wheatsheaf

Public House A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, and turned out for the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides of ...

team New Milton Town.

Return to Southampton

In February 1932, Southampton were facing an injury crisis with

Johnny McIlwaine John Arkison McIlwaine (12 June 1904 – 24 April 1980) was a Scottish association football, footballer who played as a centre half for Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth, where he captained the team in the 1929 FA Cup Final, before moving to south coas ...

and

Bert Jepson Albert Edward Jepson (9 November 1902 – 18 December 1981) was an English footballer who played as an outside right for Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion in the 1920s and 1930s. Career Huddersfield Town Jepson was born in Glasshoughton, ...

amongst the injured. Manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

called on Harkus's services for two matches, against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

both of which resulted in defeats.

Later career

He then moved to Lancashire to join

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

as a player-coach, but was seriously injured in a reserve team match against Barrow, preventing him making any first-team appearances. He did, however, join

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

for the 1933–34 season making 16 appearances in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

Military career

After retiring from football, Harkus took up employment with the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in London. On the outbreak of the

, he joined the

and, serving in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, he attained the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. In the

birthday honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dynastic ...

for 1949, Harkus was awarded the

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for "keeping up the morale in the forces whilst stationed in the Middle East". He remained in the R.A.F. after the war and continued his links with football. He had recently been appointed to their selection committee before his death at

on 28 September 1950, shortly after his 52nd birthday, following an illness.

References

External links

Aston Villa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkus, George 1898 births 1950 deaths Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Ligue 1 players Aston Villa F.C. players Southampton F.C. players New Milton Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English Football League players Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the British Empire Men's association football midfielders