Alan Harper

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Alan Harper
Personnel
Surname Alan Harper
birthday November 1, 1960
place of birth Liverpool ,  England
size 173 cm
position Defense , midfield
Juniors
Years station
1975-1988 Liverpool FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1978-1983 Liverpool FC 0 (0)
1983-1988 Everton FC 127 (4)
1988-1989 Sheffield Wednesday 35 (0)
1989-1991 Manchester City 50 (1)
1991-1993 Everton FC 51 (0)
1993-1994 Luton Town 41 (1)
1994-1996 Burnley FC 31 (0)
1995-1996 →  Cardiff City  (loan) 5 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Alan Harper (born November 1, 1960 in Liverpool ) is a former English football player . The all-round player, who can be used in various positions in defense and midfield, was considered a good development player and was valued for his ability to "read" a game above average. He celebrated his greatest successes with Everton FC in the mid-1980s when he won two English championships in 1985 and 1987 .

Athletic career

Liverpool FC (1978–1983)

Even before his 15th birthday, Harper joined the youth department of local Liverpool in October 1975 as a student . In June 1977 he received an official training contract there and was awarded his first professional contract the following year. The desired sporting breakthrough did not materialize, however, and in the following five years he did not succeed in a single appearance in the first team. Harper never got past the top-class competition for the position of central defender from Phil Thompson to Alan Hansen , who were among the best defensive formations in Europe at the time, and so it was agreed in June 1983 to change clubs to local rivals Everton for a transfer fee of 100,000 Pound.

Everton FC (1983–1988)

In the Howard Kendall coached "Toffees" Harper debuted on August 27, 1983 against Stoke City (1-0) in the right full-back position and later he showed himself on the left side and in more offensive roles in midfield as a valuable reinforcement. During his career, he was never a particularly dangerous player, but the rare hits were often characterized by the fact that they came at special times. This included his first league goal in the Merseyside Derby against ex-club Liverpool to 1: 1 on March 3, 1984. To win the FA Cup 1984 , he contributed only negligibly; after a substitution in the quarterfinals against Notts County (2-1), he was not taken into account in the semifinals and final. In the following two years, Harper did not get beyond the role of the supplementary player and stayed in the two cup finals in 1985 - FA Cup (0: 1 against Manchester United ) and European Cup Winners' Cup (3: 1 against Rapid Vienna ) - and the following year in the FA Cup final against Liverpool (1: 3) outside. Nevertheless, his contribution to winning the English championship in 1985 with twelve inserts (ten of them in the starting line-up) was enough to receive an official medal. In addition, he helped his team to a 0-0 in the semi-final first leg of the European Cup winners' competition at Bayern Munich , which laid the foundation for their surprising progress. Another milestone was his goal in the FA Cup semifinals against Sheffield Wednesday (2-1 aet), which had made it possible to move into the 1986 final.

The subsequent 1986/87 season was the most successful season in Alan Harper's career. To win the English championship again , he contributed 36 missions, where he represented Gary Stevens on the right- back position at the beginning and moved to midfield after his return. That he was not on the way to a regular place was shown in the following season 1987/88, when he helped out in various roles in defense and midfield, but also had to record longer periods of absence in the middle of the round. In the summer of 1988, Harper finally moved to league rivals Sheffield Wednesday for £ 250,000 .

Last club stations (1988–1996)

He stayed there for only 18 months and apart from a series of thirteen uninterrupted league games as a right-back from March 1989 on behalf of the migrated Mel Sterland , he did not make it a regular with the "Owls" trained by Ron Atkinson . In December 1990 he was hired by Manchester City , where he met his ex-coach Howard Kendall again. This let him increasingly play in the preferred full-back position, but then left the "Citziens" to return to Everton and so Harper quickly found himself in the unpopular role as a supplementary player, where he mostly helped out in Manchester in the defensive midfield. In August 1991, Harper moved back to Everton, who was signed a third time by Wilkinson. For two years, Harper played for Everton in the top English league and was featured 18 times in the 1992 Premier League . He then moved to the second division for Luton Town in September 1993 .

In Luton, Harper played 41 league encounters during the 1993/94 season, 40 of which were in the starting line-up and was "set" as a central defender . The next station from August 1994 was Burnley FC, which had recently been promoted to the second division . There he should give the team experience and stability in the upcoming battle for relegation. But he was rarely able to meet the expectations placed in him; from February 1995 injury problems were added. After relegation to the third division, he made room for younger players in the first team and mostly hired himself out in the reserve team. In November 1995 Burnley FC loaned him to the fourth division club Cardiff City and although the term was later extended, he showed deficits in terms of speed and ran up in just five league matches. After an injury, Harper returned to the old place of work, but where the contract, which expired in the summer of 1996, was no longer extended.

After retiring from his active career, Harper returned to Everton in the early 2000s. There he worked as a youth trainer until 2005, before focusing on scouting from November 2007. Here he was initially employed for Bolton Wanderers and moved to Liverpool FC in October 2010, where he worked for the then coach Roy Hodgson .

Title / Awards

literature

  • Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 189 f .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 92 .
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 108 .
personal data
SURNAME Harper, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool