Wayne Harrison (15 November 1967 – 25 December 2013) 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He is most famous for his record-breaking transfer from Oldham Athletic to Liverpool, where he became the world's most expensive 17-year-old, but his time at Anfield was blighted by a succession of injuries which eventually forced him to retire aged just 23.

Career

Born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Harrison grew up a fan of Liverpool, and his heroes were

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

and

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

. After starting his career with Oldham Athletic, he later progressed to the first team, becoming Oldham's youngest ever player at the age of 16. He then made the move to Liverpool, where he was loaned out to Oldham and Crewe Alexandra, making a total of 10 appearances in the

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 ...

. Whilst playing for Oldham, he scored twice against Liverpool in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in December 1984, to help Oldham win. Liverpool manager Joe Fagan put in a bid, and he signed for Liverpool in January 1985 for a fee of £250,000, which made him the world's most expensive 17-year-old player at the time. Fagan, who had fended off competition from Everton, Nottingham Forest and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, described Harrison as a "special player". Liverpool scout

Tom Saunders Tom Saunders (1921 – 8 July 2001) was a notable figure in Bill Shankly’s Boot Room organisation at Liverpool FC, and served 30 years with the club. Earlier years Tom Saunders was born in Liverpool in 1921. He joined the Territorial Army ...

had originally spotted Harrison before he came to Fagan's attention. His time with Liverpool was blighted by injury, including a near fatal accident in which he fell through a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

and almost died due to the massive blood loss he endured. He recovered through loans to Oldham and Crewe Alexandra, to become top scorer for Liverpool reserves in the 1989–90 season, scoring 17 goals in 28 games to help the side win the Central League title. About to break into the first team, he suffered an irreparable knee injury, which forced him to quit football immediately in 1991, and also miss his testimonial game at Boundary Park in 1992 between Oldham and Liverpool. He never made a first-team appearance for Liverpool.

Later life and death

After retirement from the professional sport, Harrison played Sunday League football and worked as an HGV driver for a local brewery. He died at his hometown's

Stepping Hill Hospital Stepping Hill Hospital is in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is managed by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. History The facility was first established on Stepping Hill as the Stepping Hill Poor Law Hospital in December 1905. The fac ...

on 25 December 2013 at the age of 46, after suffering from pancreatic illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Wayne 1967 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Stockport English footballers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards Truck drivers