Neil Harris (30 October 1894 – 3 December 1941) was a Scottish

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

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. In his later years he managed sides in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Playing career

Born in the Tollcross area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Harris began his senior career with

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

, whom he joined from

Vale of Clyde F.C. Vale of Clyde Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the East End of Glasgow. Nicknamed ''Tin Pail'', the club officially date their founding in 1873, although contemporary press reports don't actually date the club until 1885, an ...

in 1913. He spent seven seasons with Partick, "guesting" for

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

and

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 ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

before joining

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 ...

for £3,300 in May 1920. He played 174 league games for the ''Magpies'', scoring 87 times. He was a regular scorer in Newcastle's

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 ...

campaigns and scored a total of 14 goals in 20 appearances in that competition. He helped them win the 1923–24 FA Cup, scoring the first goal in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. That season he also earned his first (and only)

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Scottish national side, in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

.Neil Harris - A Squad

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

. Harris joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

for £3,000 in November 1925, then joined

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 ...

in 1927. He returned to Scotland with

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

in 1929 before accepting the position of player-manager at Burton Town prior to the 1931-32 season.

Managerial career

Harris spent one year in charge of Burton then moved to former side Distillery in a purely managerial capacity. He was appointed manager of Swansea Town in 1934 and soon after arriving at the

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at ...

signed his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, a defender, from

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

. Incidentally, Neil's brother Joshua ('Jack') was also a professional footballer, who played for several years with

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 S ...

among others; however, they were not related to Joe Harris, also from east Glasgow who played for Partick and Newcastle in the same era. Five years later Harris moved to his son's former side, after

Ted Vizard Edward Vizard (7 June 1889 – 25 December 1973) was a Welsh international footballer who became a manager. He spent almost all his playing career at Bolton Wanderers. Playing career Born in Cogan, Wales Vizard joined Bolton Wanderers in Sep ...

left Swindon in June 1939. Due to the impending war, he was originally only offered a year's contract but, after negotiation, this was extended to end in March 1941. Just three games into his first season in charge, the Football League programme was abandoned, and Harris remained in charge for the club's season in the

South West Regional League South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. During this season, players were often called up for military duties in the build-up to a game, and every club in the league used "guests" to make up the starting eleven - sometimes players even played under aliases to avoid detection by their officers. Before one game 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 ...

, Harris, now 45, was forced to come out of retirement himself to make up the numbers. He borrowed a pair of boots which were too small, and lost two toenails as the Town lost 5–2. By the end of the season, it was decided that the club could no longer continue whilst the war did, and Harris was relieved of his duties in August 1940, with the intention of him returning to the hotseat when the war ended. Harris died a year later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Neil 1894 births 1941 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Vale of Clyde F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Newcastle United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Scottish football managers Lisburn Distillery F.C. managers English Football League managers Swansea City A.F.C. managers Swindon Town F.C. managers Place of death missing Burton Town F.C. players Burton Town F.C. managers Association football player-managers Association football forwards FA Cup Final players