Atiba Erasto Harris (born 9 January 1985) is a Kittitian football administrator and former professional footballer. He captained the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team. As of August 2021, he serves as President of the

St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association The St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association is the governing body of football in the country of Saint Kitts and Nevis. They control the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team. Association staff References External links Official we ...

Career

Club

Harris played for St. Peters FC as a youngster, captaining them to the SKNFA Premier League Finals, and became the first player from St. Kitts to sign with a Spanish club when he signed in Spain with

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

in 2004–05. In 2006, he became the first St. Kitts player to sign with Major League Soccer. He signed with Salt Lake and scored four goals and recorded one assist in 12 starts. In December 2007, Harris was traded to

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

for a third-round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft. After a season and a half with Chivas USA, the Goats traded Harris in July 2009 to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

in exchange for Marcelo Saragosa. Harris ended his Chivas USA career with 42 appearances, 5 goals, and 7 assists. On 12 September 2009, in a match against

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

, Harris scored his first goal with FC Dallas off a Dax McCarty cross. He went on to score another goal vs Seattle finishing the season with two goals and five assists for FC Dallas and four goals and seven assists overall for the 2009 MLS season. Harris was a key player for Dallas in 2010 scoring four goals during the season and helping the club reach its first

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

final. He was selected by the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft. Harris suffered an injury and missed most of the 2011 season. He stayed with Vancouver throughout the 2012 season before being traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

in December 2012 in exchange for an international roster spot. After one season in Colorado Harris was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in January 2014 in exchange for Marvin Chávez. Harris stayed one season in San Jose before entering the 2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft in December 2014. He was selected in stage two of the draft by

. During his second stint in Dallas, head coach Óscar Pareja mostly used Harris as a right fullback.

International

Harris has played for the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team since 2003 and served as team captain. He played in five of St. Kitts'

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

qualifying games, and in its

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifying game against

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

on 6 February 2008.

Post-playing career

In May 2021, following his retirement from playing, Harris declared his candidacy for president of the

, which he won on 29 August.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Saint Kitts and Nevis's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Harris is from Monkey Hill,

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

. He is the son of Sonia Williams of Gingerland,

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

, and Egbert Harris of St. Peter's, St. Kitts. He has two older sisters along with a younger brother, Kareem Harris, who is also a footballer. He and his wife Rachael Harris have four daughters. He is the cousin of English former footballer

Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English former professional footballer, sports pundit for Sky Sports and BBC Sport, and as an ambassador of Manchester City. As a player, he was a right back who played in the Premier League and ...

Honours

FC Dallas * Western Conference ** Playoffs: 2010 ** Regular Season: 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

* Supporters' Shield: 2016 *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

Legacy

On 14 February 2020, the sporting facility in his hometown St. Peter's was renamed the Atiba Erasto Harris Sporting Complex. This facility hosts a football field along with both a basketball and a netball court. On 29 August 2021, Harris became the youngest president of the SKNFA at the age of 36.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Atiba 1985 births Living people People from Basseterre Saint Kitts and Nevis footballers Saint Kitts and Nevis expatriate footballers Saint Kitts and Nevis international footballers Cádiz CF players CD Linares players Real Salt Lake players Chivas USA players FC Dallas players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Colorado Rapids players San Jose Earthquakes players OKC Energy FC players Murciélagos FC footballers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Major League Soccer players Association football wingers Association football defenders Saint Kitts and Nevis expatriate sportspeople in Canada Saint Kitts and Nevis expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Saint Kitts and Nevis expatriate sportspeople in the United States USL Championship players