Valentine Harris (Irish: ''Vailintín Ó hEarchaí''; 23 June 1884 in

Ringsend Ringsend () is a Southside (Dublin), southside inner suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Liffey and east of the River Dodder, about two kilometres east of the city centre. It is the sou ...

, Dublin, Ireland – 9 November 1963), commonly referred to as Val Harris, was an Irish footballer who played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

for the Dublin county team and soccer for, among others Shelbourne, Everton and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Harris was regarded as one of the finest soccer players of his generation and in 1906 became the first Shelbourne player capped by Ireland. He still remains the club's most capped player. In 1913 he captained the first Ireland team to beat

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 ...

and in 1914 he was a member of the Ireland team that won the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

. Harris has been described as an extremely hard player in the mode of Kevin Moran or Paul McGrath and like his Shelbourne, Everton and

teammate, Bill Lacey, he was also very versatile, covering just about every outfield position during his career.

Playing career

Early years

Harris initially played soccer with junior clubs Pembroke and Emeralds and in 1898 helped Pembroke reach the final of the Leinster Junior Cup. He was also an accomplished

er during his teens and won honours at club level with

GAA team Isles of the Sea. In 1901 he won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal with the Dublin county team. Harris is one of several prominent

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Gaelic footballers who successfully switched codes to soccer; others have included Jack Kirwan,

Con Martin Cornelius Joseph Martin (20 March 1923 – 24 February 2013) was an Irish footballer. Martin initially played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team before switching codes and embarking on a successful soccer career, playing for, among oth ...

Joseph Ledwidge Joseph James Ledwidge Sr. (8th June 1877 – 19th January 1953) was a Gaelic footballer, an Irish international soccer player and a cricketer. He won two All-Ireland medals playing with the Dublin Geraldines and later played with Shelbourne i ...

and Kevin Moran.

Shelbourne

In 1903 Harris made his debut for Shelbourne in the Leinster Senior League. In May 1904 he had a trial with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

but then returned to Shelbourne and made his Irish League debut in a 3–1 defeat to

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

on 17 September 1904 at Serpentine Avenue, Dublin. Harris went on to play in four consecutive

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

finals and in the 1906 final was captain when Shelbourne beat Belfast Celtic 2–0 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

, becoming the first Dublin side to lift the trophy. His teammates during this era included, among others,

and Bill Lacey.

Everton

In March 1908 Harris moved to Everton for £350, the maximum amount allowed at the time. He made his debut for Everton against Woolwich Arsenal and quickly established himself as the team's regular right-half. During his time at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

he was noted for his consistency and effectiveness and played in six different positions. With Harris in the team, Everton regularly challenged for top honours, twice finishing as League runners-up ( 1908–09 and 1911–12) as well as reaching the semi-final stage in the 1910

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 ...

. His teammates at Everton included fellow

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

internationals Billy Scott and Bill Lacey, who had followed Harris from Shelbourne in February 1909. Harris made 190

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances and scored one goal; he also played a further 14 games and scored a further goal in the FA Cup.

Return to Shelbourne

After four years at Everton, Harris returned to Shelbourne in August 1914. In 1920 he won the Irish Cup for a second time after both Belfast Celtic and Glentoran were expelled. In 1921 Shelbourne became founder members of the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

and in 1926 the club won the title. Harris remained a prominent member of the Shelbourne team well passed his fortieth birthday and his second spell at the club saw him play alongside Bill Lacey,

Bob Fullam Robert "Bob" Fullam (1895–1971) was an Irish footballer and one of the best-known players in the League of Ireland in the 1920 A versatile attacking player, he was skilful but also had a tough-man image. Born in Ringsend, the son of John and ...

, Ed Brookes and Louis Bookman. During his two spells with Shelbourne, Harris made 71 Irish League appearances, scoring 13 goals, 89

appearances, scoring 6 goals, and a further 36 games and 12 goals in the

International

Harris made his debut for

as a centre-forward on 17 February 1906 in a 5–0 defeat to England at the

Solitude Ground Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest football stadium in Ireland, and the home ground of Ireland's oldest football club, Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,530 under s ...

. His teammates that day included Robert Milne and Jack Kirwan. He was the first Shelbourne player to be capped by Ireland and subsequently won a further six caps while at the club. Despite suffering a number of severe injuries related to his robust style of play, Harris was remarkably consistent in his appearances for Ireland and he featured in a run of thirteen consecutive internationals between 1908 and 1912. On 15 February 1913, Harris captained the Ireland team, that also included Billy Scott and two-goal hero

Billy Gillespie William Ballintrae Gillespie (6 August 1891 – 2 July 1981) was an Irish association football, football player who played as a Forward (association football), striker for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1 ...

, as they beat England for the first time with a 2–1 win at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

. In 1914 Ireland went a stage further and won the

. Harris and Gillespie were joined in the squad by the likes of Patrick O'Connell, Louis Bookman and Bill Lacey.

Coaching career

After retiring as player in 1927, Harris became a coach with both the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

and Shelbourne. In 1932 Harris took charge of the Irish team as they played the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Although the team was chosen by selectors, Harris took charge of training and gave the team talk. Before the game Harris declared ''

Pat O'Callaghan Patrick "Pat" O'Callaghan (28 January 1906 – 1 December 1991) was an Irish people, Irish Athletics (sport), athlete and Olympic Games, Olympic Olympic Gold Medal, gold medallist. He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal un ...

put the

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

flying high here in the 1928 Olympics and it's up to you lads to see it is still flying high this evening''. The words proved inspiring as an Irish team that included Alex Stevenson, Mick O'Brien, Jimmy Kelly and

Paddy Moore Paddy Moore (4 August 1909 – 24 July 1951) was an Irish professional footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers and Aberdeen. Moore was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. ...

won 2–0. Harris would later coach and managed Shelbourne as they won the 1939

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

, their first success in that competition.

Honours

Gaelic football

Isles of the Sea * Dublin Championship: 1900, 1901 Dublin * All-Ireland Championship: 1901

Soccer player

Shelbourne *

: 1906, 1920 **Runners Up 1905, 1907, 1908 *

: 1925–26 **Runners Up 1922–23, 1923–24 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

: 1922, 1923, 1926 *Hospitals Cup: 1906 Ireland *

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

Soccer manager

Shelbourne *

: 1939

References

Sources

*''Who's Who of Everton'' (2004): Tony Matthew

*''The Boys in Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Rya

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing GreatsHarris with the Shelbourne Team that won the 1906 Irish CupShelbourne official siteDate of Birth at IFFHS
*http://www.newsfour.ie/2014/08/valentines-days/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Val 1884 births 1963 deaths Association footballers from County Dublin Irish association footballers (before 1923) Republic of Ireland association footballers Pre-1950 IFA international footballers NIFL Premiership players English Football League players League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Everton F.C. players Republic of Ireland football managers Republic of Ireland national football team managers League of Ireland managers Shelbourne F.C. managers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Isles of the Sea Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code League of Ireland XI players Leinster Senior League (association football) players Irish League representative players Association football wing halves