Neil Harris (footballer born 1977)
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- For other people named Neil Harris, see Neil Harris (disambiguation).
| Neil Harris | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Harris | |
| Date of birth | July 12, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Orsett, Essex, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Millwall | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1997-1998 1998-2004 2004 2004-2007 2005-2006 2007-2008 |
Cambridge City Millwall → Cardiff City (loan) Nottingham Forest → Gillingham (loan) Millwall |
? (?) 233 (93) 3 (1) 33 (1) 36 (6) 45 (8) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Neil Harris (born on July 12, 1977 in Orsett, Essex, England), is a professional football striker who currently plays for Millwall.
Harris attended Brentwood School, Essex in the year above Frank Lampard.
One of his first early clubs was Maldon Town F.C. but his real football career began when he signed for Cambridge City. He was later sold to Millwall for £30,000 on March 26, 1999. In the same season, he was named player of the year for Millwall and later helped them to a Division 2 championship in 2000-01 with a remarkable goal scoring record. Harris was the Golden Boot winner for being the top English goal scorer during the 2000/01 season, earning him the nickname of "Bomber", in reference to Arthur Travers Harris. Neil Harris was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2001, but after receiving intensive treatment including surgery, he was given the all clear a year later. As a consequence he set up a cancer charity, the Neil Harris Everyman Appeal.[1] By the end of his Millwall career, Harris wasn't being played because the then player-manager Dennis Wise didn't believe he was up to par, and that led him to sign for Cardiff City on loan to prove he was good enough for first team football at Millwall. Unfortunately, Harris was unable to prove himself and was subsequently sold to Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee after they were relegated to Football League One in the 2004-05 season. He was unable to make an impact at the City Ground and so was loaned out to Gillingham who had also been relegated to League One at the same time as Nottingham Forest.
He scored 6 goals for Gillingham during his season long loan spell, at the end of which he returned to Forest, hoping to make an impact under new manager Colin Calderwood. Harris's old club Millwall made a loan deal for him on a 6 month deal in August 2006, however Harris rejected the offer saying if he were to move it would have to be on a permanent basis, and with Darren Byfield and Ben May set to return from injury for Millwall, Harris believed he would have once again been forced out the side, which was the reason he left The New Den in the first instance. Millwall therefore, withdrew from transfer negotiations. He finally opened his goal-scoring account for Forest on the 2 September 2006 after 21 months of waiting in a 4-0 victory against Chesterfield. It was a cutely struck volley from a few yards out. He and his team mates joy was clear to see in his celebration, as he ran towards the corner of the stadium and didn't look as though he would stop, until his team mates caught up. In the post match report, he admitted he was finally enjoying life at Nottingham Forest. Nonetheless, a certain contingent of the Forest fans still criticised Harris for his relatively poor scoring record and somewhat poor performance record.
In January 2007 Harris's contract was terminated by mutual consent. He re-signed with Millwall on an 18 month contract on January 8, 2007, less than 24 hours after leaving Forest, much to the delight of the Millwall fans.
Speaking to BBC Sport on 9 January, Harris stated, "There is something special about this club, it brings out the best in me as a player and a person. It feels like home, it always has done. I can't wait to get started."
On January 20, 2007, in his second game for Millwall, Harris made club history by scoring in the 16th minute of the 4-0 win over Rotherham to become Millwall's top league goal scorer with 94 goals surpassing the previous club record of 93 goals he had jointly held with Teddy Sheringham.
Harris informed the South London Press, on 23 January, that it was his intention to surpass Sheringham's 111 goal total for Millwall, stating: "There is no question of me relaxing after one goal. At last I can say, without putting too much pressure on myself, that I want Teddy's overall record. The thing I've always wanted is to be number one, and that means getting a total of 112."
Harris's overall total of goals scored for Millwall stands at 107 in all competitions.
In 2007-08, Millwall boss Kenny Jackett told Harris that he could leave the club as he did not feature in his first team plans; younger strikers Lewis Grabban, Gary Alexander, Bas Savage and Marc Laird pushed him down the Millwall forward pecking order. Harris responded by stating that he had no intention of leaving the club he loved in its hour of need. Jackett was forced to bring Harris back into the first team squad on 15 March 2008, due to Alexander picking up an injury that kept him out of the squad for the remainder of the season.
Harris would be instrumental in securing Millwall's League One status, scoring one goal and turning provider for the other two in Millwall's 3-0 home win over Carlisle on 26 April 2008.
Neil Harris was offered a new contract on 6 May. After a strong set of perfomances, the 30 year old striker managed to change Kenny Jackett's mind. Harris stated: "The club have made me a new offer which has pleased me professionally, because it shows that I have done enough to change the manager's mind. That makes me very happy."
Harris signed a new one year contract with The Lions on 4 June 2008[2]
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