Neil Harris (30 October 1894 – 3 December 1941) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a centre forward. In his later years he managed sides in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Playing career

Born in the Tollcross area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Harris began his senior career with Partick Thistle, whom he joined from Vale of Clyde F.C. in 1913. He spent seven seasons with Partick, "guesting" for Distillery and Fulham during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

before joining Newcastle United for £3,300 in May 1920. He played 174 league games for the ''Magpies'', scoring 87 times. He was a regular scorer in Newcastle's

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 ...

campaigns and scored a total of 14 goals in 20 appearances in that competition. He helped them win the

1923–24 FA Cup The 1923–24 FA Cup was the 49th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Newcastle United won the competition for the second time, beating Aston Villa 2–0 in ...

, scoring the first goal in the final. That season he also earned his first (and only)

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Scottish national side, in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

.Neil Harris - A Squad
Scottish Football Association. Harris joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

for £3,000 in November 1925, then joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in 1927. He returned to Scotland with

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

in 1929 before accepting the position of player-manager at Burton Town prior to the 1931-32 season.

Managerial career

Harris spent one year in charge of Burton then moved to former side Distillery in a purely managerial capacity. He was appointed manager of Swansea Town in 1934 and soon after arriving at the Vetch Field signed his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, a defender, from

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

. Incidentally, Neil's brother Joshua ('Jack') was also a professional footballer, who played for several years with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

among others; however, they were not related to Joe Harris, also from east Glasgow who played for Partick and Newcastle in the same era. Five years later Harris moved to his son's former side, after Ted Vizard left Swindon in June 1939. Due to the impending war, he was originally only offered a year's contract but, after negotiation, this was extended to end in March 1941. Just three games into his first season in charge, the Football League programme was abandoned, and Harris remained in charge for the club's season in the South West Regional League. During this season, players were often called up for military duties in the build-up to a game, and every club in the league used "guests" to make up the starting eleven - sometimes players even played under aliases to avoid detection by their officers. Before one game at Bristol City, Harris, now 45, was forced to come out of retirement himself to make up the numbers. He borrowed a pair of boots which were too small, and lost two toenails as the Town lost 5–2. By the end of the season, it was decided that the club could no longer continue whilst the war did, and Harris was relieved of his duties in August 1940, with the intention of him returning to the hotseat when the war ended. Harris died a year later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Neil 1894 births 1941 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Vale of Clyde F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Newcastle United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Scottish football managers Lisburn Distillery F.C. managers English Football League managers Swansea City A.F.C. managers Swindon Town F.C. managers Place of death missing Burton Town F.C. players Burton Town F.C. managers Association football player-managers Association football forwards FA Cup Final players