Merseyside For Sport - Brian Harris

Brian Harris was born on the 16th of May 1935 in Bebington, Wirral and was an outstanding schoolboy sportsman: an ace cricketer and England youth international footballer. Somehow he evaded the scouting networks of Merseyside’s three league clubs until the age of 18 when Everton recruited him from non-league Port Sunlight in January 1954 for £10. The fee was to prove one of the finest bargains in the club's history. He made his first-team debut on the right wing against Burnley in August 1955, halfway through a season that would end in Everton gaining promotion to the top flight, but Brian only flourished following the appointment of Johnny Carey as manager in October 1958 after being converted from inside forward to wing half. Here Brian excelled, and even when the Moores money began to buy up some of British football's best players, the £10 signing kept his place among the "Mersey Millionaires" - as Everton eventually were known. Operating on the left of midfield with a primarily defensive responsibility, his briskness in the tackle, admirable aerial combativeness for a player of 5ft 8in and a willingness to run until he dropped were ideal for the job, but his constructive input was valuable, too. Although his attacking skills tended to be underrated, he was a crisp and accurate passer, adept at delivering early passes to his forwards that frequently caught opponents unawares. Brian was central to Everton's transformation from 1950s strugglers to one of the most accomplished English teams of the following decade. He quickly earned a reputation as one of the most adaptable players of his generation as he became a utility man par excellence, featuring in every position on the pitch apart from goalkeeper, a versatility that highlighted not just his technical skills but also his deep understanding of the game. In December 1962, midway through a League Championship winning season, Harry Catterick, who had replaced Carey a year earlier, signed Sheffield Wednesday’s Tony Kay in a record transfer deal and Brian, who had performed impressively in the opening half of the season, was harshly dropped. Nevertheless, he persevered and when Kay was later banned for his part in a betting scandal, Brian returned in his place and went on to show the best form of his career, culminating in that FA Cup win. Embarking on a mazy run across the Wembley turf, Everton fan Eddie Cavanagh evaded one policeman, who groped forlornly at his empty jacket, before being rugby tackled by a second, who lost his helmet in the process. As the supporter tried to free himself to embrace Everton's captain, Brian Labone, a beaming Harris could be seen in the background, trying on the helmet for size. The interlude was a public exposition of Harris's wicked sense of humour, Brian played for 12 years for Everton, notably partnering the more defensively minded Jimmy Gabriel.

His time at Cardiff City, after a £15,000 transfer in October 1967, provided a distinguished epilogue to his career. He left behind at Goodison memories not only of a stalwart, consistent performer, a players' player never lauded lavishly by press and public but valued enormously within the game, but also of a natural comedian whose predilection for banter and practical jokes had been of immeasurable worth in maintaining dressing room morale. In the 1967/68 season, he appeared in all of the Bluebirds European Cup Winners Cup’ games as, incredibly, they reached the semi-final, losing narrowly over two legs to SV Hamburg. In 1971 he dropped down a couple of divisions, playing out his career with Newport County, whom he briefly managed. He returned to Cardiff as assistant manager in the late-1970s, then coached briefly at Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town. On dropping out of professional football he returned to Wales, settling in Chepstow, where he managed the town's non-League club and ran a business with his sons. A gregarious, fun-loving character, always popular with team-mates and fans, in his later years he was a popular guest at Everton reunion dinners. It was with his first club that his heart lay, and it seemed appropriate that his funeral service in February 2008 was held at St Luke's Church, located at the corner of Goodison Park, following his death in Chepstow following a short illness survived by his wife Beryl, and two sons Mark and Ian. John Keith, the football writer, and Derek Temple, a team-mate who scored the winner on that famous afternoon, addressed the large congregation at St Luke’s church. Among the many retired players were Dave Hickson, Johnny King, Graeme Sharp, Jimmy Harris, Alex Young, Roy Parnell and Joe Royle. Duncan McKenzie and Derek Mountfield were pall-bearers.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/08/merseyside-for-sport-peter-craven.html