John Robert "Tony" Harris (18 October 1922 – 25 August 2000) was a Scottish 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 for Queen's Park,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Football career

Harris began his career with amateur club Queen's Park 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 ...

. He had briefly served in the

RAF 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 ...

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the War, but was sent back to university when it was discovered that he was a dental student, dentists being in short supply during the War. He also played for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in one wartime international. In 1946, Harris joined

and was part of the team that won the club's first major honour, the 1947 Scottish Cup. He also played in the 1953 Scottish Cup Final for Aberdeen, but they were defeated by Rangers. After leaving Aberdeen, Harris signed for

and played there for two seasons before retiring in 1956.Tony Harris
AFC Heritage Trust

After football

In 1969, Harris was part of a consortium attempting to take over

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

, along with fellow ex-Aberdeen player

Don Emery Don Emery (11 June 1920 – 19 November 1993) was a Welsh footballer. He played for Swindon Town, Aberdeen and East Fife, and in the late 1950s managed Highland League club Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) ...

. The takeover bid was ultimately unsuccessful. He died in August 2000, aged 77.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Honours

;Aberdeen *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tony 1922 births 2000 deaths Men's association football outside forwards Men's association football wing halves Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Glasgow Queen's Park F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Scottish Football League players Scotland men's wartime international footballers People from Maryhill Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish dentists Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century dentists