James Harvey (born 2 May 1958) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.

Playing career

As a player, Harvey began his career at Glenavon in his hometown of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

, before joining Arsenal in 1977. He made only three Football League appearances and one

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

appearance in three years, with his debut coming against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on 9 May 1978. Harvey moved to

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

in 1980, where he made 278 league appearances. He had a brief spell at

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and then on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

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 ...

, before moving to

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 ...

in 1987; there he played 239 matches, scoring 19 goals, and became

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

. At Tranmere, he was the playmaker for a team who gained two promotions and won the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

final in 1990. Spells at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

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 Iris ...

and Chester City (youth coach) followed, and he finished his playing career as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

at Morecambe.

Managerial career

Harvey joined Morecambe as player-manager in July 1994 and led them into the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

in 1996. In 1998, he managed Morecambe to the

Conference League Cup The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference. History The competition was formed for t ...

title, beating Woking in the Final. He also led Morecambe to second place in the Conference in 2003, before being defeated on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the semi-final against Dagenham & Redbridge. He also served as assistant manager to long-time friend Sammy McIlroy when McIlroy was in charge of the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

national team. Harvey suffered a heart attack before a league match against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

in November 2005. Whilst Harvey was given time off to recuperate, McIlroy was installed as caretaker manager. McIlroy took Morecambe into the play-offs during Harvey's absence, and on Harvey's first day back after his illness in May 2006, he was sacked with McIlroy being installed as permanent manager in his place. Harvey's sacking from Morecambe has led to serious animosity between the two former friends and colleagues; they refused to shake hands when Harvey's Forest Green side met McIlroy's Morecambe at Christie Park in November 2006. After spending the pre-season coaching at

, in September 2006, Harvey replaced

Gary Owers Gary Owers (born 3 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer, and football manager. He most recently managed Torquay United. He was previously manager of Bath City and Forest Green Rovers as well as the assistant manager at Al ...

to become

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

' seventh manager in nine seasons. He took over a team, bottom of the Conference with just 2 points from the first six games and led them to safety with a game to spare. In his second season as Forest Green boss he led the club to its highest ever league finish of 8th in the Conference National under his guidance. He then led the club to the third round of 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 ...

in his third season at Forest Green where they narrowly lost 4–3 to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

. In the same season he took Forest Green into the

Final following a 1–0 away win at

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

in the semi finals however Forest Green lost in the final to

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, they ...

0–3 on penalties after the game finished goalless. He left the club in August 2009. On 6 October 2009, Harvey was appointed manager of Chester City until the end of the 2009–10 season, where he had previously been part of the coaching staff in the mid-1990s. However Harvey resigned in January 2010 because of uncertainty regarding his future. On 12 February 2010 Harvey was appointed manager of Stalybridge Celtic in the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

. He left the club in October 2013. On 1 June 2015, it was confirmed that he had joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

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 be ...

as part of the coaching staff. On 1 October 2015, Harvey was appointed as assistant manager to

Darren Kelly Darren Kelly (born 30 June 1979) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He is the sporting director of club Newport County A.F.C., Newpor ...

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

. On 22 December 2015, Harvey was appointed as manager of the club, following a spell as caretaker manager. While the club's form improved under him, and they were victorious in the

2016 FA Trophy Final The 2015–16 FA Trophy Final was the 47th final of the FA Trophy. The match was contested by FC Halifax Town and Grimsby Town. Grimsby Town were beaten finalists in 2013, but it was FC Halifax Town's first final and their first visit to Wembley ...

, they were ultimately relegated after failing to win their final game of the season, and Harvey was not offered the chance to continue. On 7 December 2016, Jim Harvey sacked as

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

boss after just one league win in three months.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

FC Halifax Town * FA Trophy: 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Jim 1958 births Living people People from Lurgan Association footballers from Northern Ireland Association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Southport F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Football managers from Northern Ireland Morecambe F.C. managers Forest Green Rovers F.C. managers Chester City F.C. managers Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers National League (English football) managers Chester City F.C. non-playing staff Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff Altrincham F.C. managers FC Halifax Town non-playing staff