Steve Harkness

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Personal information
Steve Harkness
Date of birth	27 August 1971
Place of birth	Carlisle, England
Playing position	Defender
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989 1989-1999 1993 (Loan) 1995 (Loan) 1999 1999-2000 2000-2002 2002	Carlisle United Liverpool Huddersfield Town Southend United Benfica Blackburn Rovers Sheffield Wednesday Chester City	13 (0) 104 (3) 5 (0) 6 (0) 9 (0) 17 (0) 30 (1) 10 (0)
National team
	England Under-18 England Under-20
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Steve Harkness (born Carlisle, August 27, 1971) is a former footballer who played for several clubs, most notably Liverpool.

[edit] Playing career

A defender or midfielder, most comfortable at left-back but able to play in a range of positions, he began his career with his hometown club, Carlisle United, signing professional forms on the 31st March 1989. After just 13 games for the Cumbrians he impressed sufficiently to be signed by Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish on 17th July 1989 for £75,000. He made his debut on the 27th August 1991 in the 1-0 league win over Queens Park Rangers at Anfield. His first goal for the Reds didn't come until the 8th May 1993 in the 6-2 league thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur, again, at Anfield.

He was a favourite amongst many of the Liverpool supporters but never established himself as a first-team regular, making 140 appearances in his 6 yeaars at the club. He was sent out on loan twice during his Anfield career, firstly to Huddersfield Town, where he played 6 times and also Southend United, where he, again, played 6 times.

He remained at Anfield until 1999 but was one of the first victims of the Houllier revolution, leaving to join up with old manager Graeme Souness at Benfica on the 9th March 1999 for £750,000. He only lasted five months in Portugal, however, reuiniting with Souness, again, at Blackburn Rovers on the 26th August '99 when he paid Benfica £400,000 for Harkness' signature. He made his debut for Rovers on the 6th November '99 in the 2-2 league draw with Ipswich Town at Ewood Park.

After a disappointing year, which saw Blackburn finish mid-table in the First Division, he was allowed to join Sheffield Wednesday for £200,000 after just 21 appearances. His Owls debut came on the 30th September 2000 in the 2-0 league defeat to Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium.

His two years at Hillsborough were plagued by injury, however, and he only managed 32 appearances in that time. He moved to Chester on a free transfer on the 11th July July 2002, playing under former team-mate Mark Wright, but he was forced to retire on the 2nd November of that year, aged 31, having played just 10 times.