Kevin Harper

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Kevin HARPER
Personal information
Full name	Kevin Patrick Harper
Date of birth	January 15, 1976
Place of birth	Oldham, England
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Carlisle United (on loan from Stoke City)
Number	19
Youth clubs
1991–1992	Hutchison Vale BC
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1992–1998 1998–2000 1999–2000 2000–2005 2003 2004 2005–present 2006–present	Hibernian Hibernian →Walsall (loan) Portsmouth →Norwich City (loan) →Leicester City (loan) Stoke City →Carlisle United (loan)	94 (15) 32 (1) 9 (1) 119 (9) 9 (0) 2 (0) 25 (1) 5 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:42, 1 December 2006 (UTC).

Kevin Patrick Harper (born January 15, 1976, in Oldham, Greater Manchester) is a Scottish football player. He currently plays for English club Stoke City.

Harper began his career with non-league Hutchison Vale as a youth. However, it was not long before the talented midfielder was snapped up by Hibernian.

Harper soon impressed for the Edinburgh club, and was courted by several other British clubs. In the end it was Derby County who landed the player, with manager Jim Smith paying £300,000 in September 1998.

Despite clear potential, Harper failed to impress at Derby, and he was loaned out to Walsall in December 1999 for the remainder of the season. However his spell at Walsall was cut short when Portsmouth made an offer of £300,000 for his services in March 2000.

Harper moved to Fratton Park having started only seven games for Derby.

The Scottish Under-21 international soon settled into the team at Portsmouth, missing much of the 2000/01 season with a shin splints problem.

In 2001/2 he faced the brunt of fan frustration after a disappointing season, finishing the campaign with the dubious honour of having been sent off (twice) more times than he scored (once).

However, he was a crucial member of the side that won the First Division title in 2002/03, and his excellent performances down either wing for Portsmouth earned a place in the full Scotland squad.

Despite his impressive part in Portsmouth's promotion, Harper was loaned out to Norwich City in September 2003. His loan spell at Carrow Road was initially for one month but was extended to three months. He played well at Norwich, but was also sent off for a dreadful two-footed tackle on an opposing player in a match against Derby County. On his return to Fratton Park he made only nine appearances for Portsmouth in the 2003/04 season.

After failing to regain his place at the start of the 2004/05 season he was loaned to Leicester City, and in January 2005 was sold to Stoke City.

On October 20, 2006 Harper joined Carlisle United on loan.

[edit] External link

• Kevin Harper's career stats at Soccerbase

Carlisle United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Williams | 2 Raven | 3 Murphy | 4 Billy | 5 Livesey | 6 Gray | 7 Murray | 8 Lumsdon | 9 Holmes | 10 Hawley | 11 Thirlwell | 12 Joyce | 13 Bradley | 14 Grand | 15 Arnison | 17 McDermott | 18 Hackney | 19 Harper | 20 Westwood | 21 Aranalde | 23 Kirkup | 25 Gall | 26 Ferris | 27 Earl | 28 Hindmarch | -- Krause | Manager: McDonald