John Harris (footballer)
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- For other persons named John Harris, see John Harris (disambiguation).
John Harris (30 June 1917, in Glasgow - 24 June 1988 in Sheffield) was a Scottish footballer nicknamed "Gentleman John".
Harris was born to be a footballer, being the son of one Scottish international centre-forward for Newcastle United. He, too, represented Scotland during wartime.
He played for Swindon Town before moving to Swansea Town in 1934 when the side was managed by his father. In 1939, he played for both Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He joined Chelsea on loan from Wolves during the Second World War and in September 1945 signed permanently for £5,000. A tough-tackling but skilful centre-half, Harris was a regular in the Chelsea side throughout his career and was club captain until Roy Bentley took over the role. He was a member of Chelsea's 1954-55 First Division-winning side, making 31 appearances that season. In eleven years, he made 364 appearances and scored 14 goals.
He left Chelsea in April 1956 to become player-manager of Chester City before retiring to concentrate on management. He took over from Joe Mercer as manager of Sheffield United in April 20, 1959 and finished the season third, seven points behind second placed Fulham. His first full season finished in fourth place.
Finally in 1961, his Sheffield United team won promotion from the Second Division as runners-up to Ipswich Town, mainly due to his purchase of Welsh international winger Len Allchurch for £12,500 from Swansea. Under Harris, United enjoyed numerous runs in the FA Cup (reaching the semi-finals in 1961 for the first time since 1936) and the League Cup.
Despite financial problems, he led United to fifth place in the first season back in the top division, and over the next few years relied on a steady flow of youngsters graduating from the Northern Intermediate league team to replace players sold in order to remain in profit.
After years of mid-table finishes, he was "promoted" to General Manager in August 1968 after the team had been relegated the previous season, replaced by Arthur Rowley. However, Rowley was sacked and he returned as manager in August 1969. The side won promotion again in 1971 after an unbeaten run of eleven games. He resigned in December 1973 after his replacement Ken Furphy was eventually found to become a Senior Executive. In June 1977 he finally left the club and was soon acting as scout for Sheffield Wednesday. He later became a lay preacher.
He died in 1988, aged 71 in Sheffield.
