William Harrison (1858-1890) was an English footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

, Middlesbrough, The Wednesday and Blackburn Olympic.

Life and career

Harrison was born in 1858 in Lancaster. He worked as an elementary school inspector and moved to

in the 1870s to find work alongside his brother Thomas. He helped to establish the town's first football club, Redcar and Coatham where he became captain. By 1882, Harrison was regarded as one of the best forwards in the North of England, with Charles Alcock's Football Annual listing him as one of the "chief English players of 1881-82." Thanks to his growing reputation, the same year Harrison was selected to represent the North in the annual North vs South football match at Kennington Oval, used as a trial match to select the England squad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, William 1858 births 1890 deaths Sportspeople from Lancaster, Lancashire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Middlesbrough F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Blackburn Olympic F.C. players Footballers from Lancashire