Jimmy Harris (footballer, born 1933)

James Harris (born 18 August 1933) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for Everton and Birmingham City in the First Division. The strengths of his game were his pace and a clear eye for goal.

For the West Ham and Southampton player of the 1920s and 1930s, see Jimmy Harris (footballer, born 1907).

Jimmy Harris
Personal information
Full name James Harris[1]
Date of birth (1933-08-18) 18 August 1933[1]
Place of birth Birkenhead, England
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1948–1951 Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1960 Everton 191 (65)
1960–1964 Birmingham City 93 (37)
1964–1966 Oldham Athletic 29 (9)
1966–1967 St Patrick's Athletic 6 (2)
National team
1956 England U23 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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.[2] 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.[3] 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 away at Tottenham Hotspur only for Everton to lose 10–4.[4]

In 1960, having scored 72 goals in 207 appearances in all competitions for Everton,[2] Harris was sold to Birmingham City for a fee of £20,000.[5] 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.[5] He played in their 1960-61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaign when they reached the final against A.S. Roma, and was largely responsible for them getting that far. In the semi-final against Inter Milan he scored three times, including the first goal of the 2–1 win at the San Siro,[6] the only time Inter had lost at home to an English club until Arsenal repeated the feat over forty years later.[7] 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 Oldham Athletic.[1] Harris signed for St Patrick's Athletic on 19 October 1966 . and made his debut that night in a League of Ireland Shield game against Shamrock Rovers. 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. He made his League of Ireland debut on the opening day of the 1966–67 League of Ireland season at Waterford. His first league goal came in November against Dundalk . In three months at Richmond Park, Harris scored 3 goals in 8 total appearances.

Honours

References
  1. "Jimmy Harris". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. "Gallery of Players Signed Between 1950–1959". EFChistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  3. Courtney, Barrie (27 March 2004). "England – U-23 International Results- Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  4. "Memorable Matches". Everton F.C. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  5. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 94. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.
  6. Zea, Anthony; Haisma, Marcel (27 June 2007). "European Champions' Cup and Fairs' Cup 1960–61 – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  7. "Arsenal routs Inter Milan". New York Times. Reuters. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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