Tony_Harper_(footballer)
Tony Harper (footballer)
English footballer
Anthony Frederick Harper (26 May 1925 – 28 June 1982) was an English football wing half or inside forward who made 173 appearances in the Football League for Brentford.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Frederick Harper[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1925-05-26)26 May 1925 | ||
| Place of birth | Oxford, England | ||
| Date of death | 28 June 1982(1982-06-28) (aged 57)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Bullingdon, England | ||
| Position(s) | Wing half, inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Headington United | |||
| 1948–1955 | Brentford | 173 | (6) |
| 1955–1959 | Headington United | 116 | (6) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Headington United
Harper began his career at Spartan League hometown club Headington United and departed the club in March 1948.[1]
Brentford
Harper signed for Second Division club Brentford in March 1948.[1] He began his time with the Bees as an inside forward and made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Leicester City at Griffin Park on 15 September 1948.[3] Harper missed the entire 1949–50 season due to illness, but broke into the team in the 1950–51 season as a wing half and formed a celebrated half back line with Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill.[1][4] He made a career-high 41 appearances during the 1951–52 season and held his place until Ken Coote began to establish himself in the wing half position.[1][3] Harper played on until the 1954–55 season and dropped into the reserves in the latter stages of the campaign.[1] He departed Brentford in the summer of 1955 and made 188 appearances and scored seven goals in his seven years with the club.[1]
Return to Headington United
Harper returned to Headington United, then members of the Southern League, during the 1955 off-season.[1] He made over 137 further appearances before retiring in 1959.[5][6]
After experiencing trouble commuting from his Oxford home to Brentford, Harper stayed in a club house in Hounslow with teammate Ted Gaskell and Gaskell's wife, before eventually moving into the house next door.[7]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1948–49[3] | Second Division | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 21 | 1 | |
| 1950–51[3] | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| 1951–52[3] | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | |||
| 1952–53[3] | 36 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 39 | 3 | |||
| 1953–54[3] | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| 1954–55[3] | Third Division South | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | ||
| Total | 173 | 6 | 15 | 1 | — | 188 | 7 | |||
| Headington United | 1955–56[6] | Southern League | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 1956–57[6] | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 38 | 3 | ||
| 1957–58[6] | 40 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 48 | 2 | ||
| 1958–59[6] | Southern League North West Division | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 1959–60[6] | Southern League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 116 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 137 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 289 | 12 | 25 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 325 | 13 | ||
- Appearances in Southern League Cup
- 3 appearances in Southern League Cup, 1 appearance in Southern League Inter-Zone
- Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 72. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- "Tony Harper". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 380–383. ISBN 0951526200.
- "Bill Axbey: the legend of Griffin Park dies, aged 102 (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)". Richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- "Rage Online » Player". www.rageonline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- "Rage Online » AdHoc". www.rageonline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- Lane, David (2005). Cult Bees & Legends: Volume Two. Hampton Hill: Legends Publishing. p. 107. ISBN 0954368282.