James Harris (18 August 1933 – April 2022) 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

for Everton and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in the First Division. The strengths of his game were his pace and a clear eye for goal.

Biography

Harris made his debut for Everton, replacing Dave Hickson, in 1955 and finished his debut season as the club's top scorer with 21 goals in all competitions. He was also capped for England under-23 that season, scoring in a 3–1 win against Scotland under-23 at Hillsborough in February 1956. When moved to outside right on Hickson's return in 1957 he was able to use his pace and still kept scoring. The following season, 1957–58, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

away at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

only for Everton to lose 10–4. In 1960, having scored 72 goals in 207 appearances in all competitions for Everton, Harris was sold to

for a fee of £20,000. He was the club's top scorer in each of his first two seasons at Birmingham City, and in four years scored 53 goals in 113 games in all competitions. He played in their 1960–61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaign when they reached the final against Roma, and was largely responsible for them getting that far. In the semi-final against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

he scored three times, including the first goal of the 2–1 win at the

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

, the only time Inter had lost at home to an English club until

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

repeated the feat over forty years later. He won his only major medal when he played on the winning side in the 1963 Football League Cup Final. After leaving Birmingham he moved on to Third Division club

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

, and played once in the League Cup for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

of the Fourth Division. He signed for Cheshire League club

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

in September 1966, but injury delayed his debut, and, after reportedly agreeing a deal with struggling Irish club

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

, Harris signed instead for St Patrick's Athletic on 19 October. and made his debut that night in a League of Ireland Shield game against

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. In his second Shield game he got his first goal for Pats which sealed the club's participation in the following season's

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

. He made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

debut on the opening day of the 1966–67 season at Waterford. His first league goal came in November against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. In three months at

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

, Harris scored three goals in eight total appearances. He returned to the Cheshire League in February 1967 with Ellesmere Port Town, where he was later appointed

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. Harris married Joan Boardman in 1967. His death was reported on 17 April 2022.

Honours

Birmingham City *

: runner-up 1960–61 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1962–63 Individual * Everton top scorer: 1956 * Birmingham City top scorer: 1961, 1962

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jimmy 1933 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Birkenhead English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football forwards Everton F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players English Football League representative players English football managers Ellesmere Port Town F.C. managers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland