Eric George Harrison (5 February 1938 – 13 February 2019) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He played in midfield for several teams, including notable spells at Halifax Town (his local club) and

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. Harrison became a football coach and worked at Everton before he was brought to

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 ...

by Ron Atkinson in 1981 to manage the youth team. Under

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

, Harrison developed "one of the best crops of young players in the English game" – the so-called Fergie's Fledglings – which included

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

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and Gary Neville.

Playing career

Harrison began his football career as a player with his local club, Halifax Town, and made 199 league appearances between 1957 and 1964. After seven years with Halifax, he joined

Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Har ...

, where he played for two years before joining

in 1966. At Barrow, he was noted as a strong midfield player who played a key role in securing the club's promotion to the Third Division in 1967. He was at Southport from 1969 to 1971 before returning to Barrow for the 1971–72 season. In all, he made 162 league appearances for Barrow and a further 25 in other competitions, scoring three goals. He left Barrow for Scarborough in 1972. After retiring from playing Harrison entered coaching.

Manchester United

Hired from Everton in June 1981 by new Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson, with whom Harrison had played for the Royal Air Force football team, Harrison took the post of youth team manager. It was his responsibility to help guide the club's young players and mould them into future first-teamers. When Atkinson was sacked in 1986, his replacement,

, decided to keep Harrison on as youth coach. Dissatisfied with the number of players coming through the United youth system, Ferguson called a meeting with Harrison to discuss potential improvements. Harrison pointed out that he had already made Norman Whiteside and a couple of others into first team players, but Ferguson argued that this was still not enough. Harrison retorted "Right, we'll do a deal. You get me better-quality players, and I'll get you more youngsters in the first team." Ferguson agreed and set about increasing the club's scouting network two-or-threefold. Harrison's set-up subsequently produced a crop of first team players that became known as " Fergie's Fledglings" or "the class of '92". These included

, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Robbie Savage. Harrison managed the Manchester United youth team that included many of these players and won the 1992

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 ...

. The group has been described as "one of the best crops of young players in the English game". In 1993 Harrison introduced

, Phil Neville and

Keith Gillespie Keith Robert Gillespie (born 18 February 1975) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Mindwell in the Mid-Ulster Football League. He began his career at Manchester United after winning the FA Youth ...

to first team football. In 1995 a Harrison-coached team, captained by Phil Neville, won the FA Youth Cup again. Other players brought through the Manchester United youth team by Harrison include Mark Hughes, Norman Whiteside, Clayton Blackmore and

Graeme Hogg Graeme James Hogg (born 17 June 1964) is a Scottish former footballer. He began his career with Manchester United in 1984 and went on to play 83 league games for the club before joining Portsmouth in 1988. During his time at Old Trafford, Unit ...

. Harrison left Manchester United around 2008.

Later life

Harrison was assistant manager of the Wales national football team for four years, under Mark Hughes. In 2014, Harrison was diagnosed with mixed dementia, a condition that his own father had also lived with in his later years, and went to live in a nursing home. Harrison was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to football in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. As he was unable to travel to London, he received his honour at Halifax Town's ground, The Shay. He died on 13 February 2019 at the age of 81.

References

External links

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at redStat {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Eric 1938 births 2019 deaths People from Mytholmroyd English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Halifax Town A.F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Members of the Order of the British Empire Footballers from Yorkshire Everton F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches