Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, mainly remembered for his two spells with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 206 goals in major competitions. He also played for

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

(two spells) and Hibernian in Scotland, and for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

and Everton in England. He finished his career in the Highland League. Harper played for the Scotland national team five times, scoring seven goals.

Club career

Born in Greenock, Harper started his professional career with home-town club

, and returned to the club after a brief, unhappy spell with

. He had at times a difficult relationship with some Morton supporters, but most fans recognised his ability and enthusiasm. He played for Morton against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the

Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...

. Harper scored 74 goals in 122 appearances for Morton across both spells. Morton sold him for £35,000 to Huddersfield Town. He later returned to Morton for £15,000. In 1969, Aberdeen manager Eddie Turnbull paid £40,000 to sign Harper, and in his first season with the ''Dons'' he helped them win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Celtic were defeated 3–1.Celtic treble slayer Joe Harper says his old team Aberdeen can replicate his feats
Lindsay Herron, Evening Times, 25 November 2016 He rapidly developed a reputation as a prodigious goalscorer and following a record-breaking haul of 33 goals in 34 league games in the 1971–72 season was the subject of much interest from English scouts. Everton paid £180,000 for his services in December 1972 but his time in English football was not as productive as his Aberdeen spell and he returned to Scotland with Hibernian in early 1974, for the second time signed by Eddie Turnbull who had by this stage moved to

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

. Overweight and unfit when he arrived at Hibs, Harper struggled to rediscover his Aberdeen-era form in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. He scored a hat-trick in the 1974 Scottish League Cup Final, but

Dixie Deans John Kelly "Dixie" Deans (born 30 July 1946) is a Scottish retired footballer. He played as a centre forward in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily for Motherwell and Celtic, and was a prolific goal-scorer. Deans played in two international mat ...

also scored a hat-trick as Celtic defeated Hibs 6–3. Harper was never a favourite with the Hibs fans, and his arrival signalled the beginning of the decline of the team's fortunes through the late 1970s and 1980s. Harper returned to Aberdeen under

Ally MacLeod Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at t ...

for the start of the 1976–77 season in a £50,000 deal and inspired instant success, the ''Dons'' defeating Celtic 2–1 (after extra time) to win the League Cup in November. Harper made further final appearances in each of the next two seasons, as Aberdeen lost both the 1977–78 Scottish Cup final and the 1978–79 League Cup final to Rangers, by a scoreline of 2–1 on each occasion. By the 1979–80 season he was considered a veteran and no longer a regular in the ''Dons'' first team but his seven goals helped Alex Ferguson become the second Scottish League-winning Aberdeen manager after

Dave Halliday David Halliday (11 December 1901 – 5 January 1970) was a Scottish association football player and manager. He achieved numerous distinctions and high rankings as a prolific goal-scoring forward with six senior clubs; St Mirren, Dundee, Sunde ...

in 1954–55."Dave Halliday" qosfc.com
/ref> Harper left Pittodrie after only one appearance the following season in the wake of a fallout with Ferguson. In total Harper scored 205 competitive goals for Aberdeen, a club record. Of that total, 122 were scored in league fixtures, 70 in domestic cup games (including 6 in the pre-season

Drybrough Cup The Drybrough Cup was a Scottish annual football tournament. It was held from 1971 until 1974, and was revived from 1979 to 1980. It was open to the four highest-scoring teams from Division 1, and the four highest-scoring teams from Division 2. T ...

, not counted in some totals) and 7 in European competition. His iconic status amongst Aberdeen supporters was recognised when he was amongst the first players to be inducted to the club's "Hall of Fame". Joe's notoriety with Aberdeen fans also earned him the title 'King of the Beach End' (traditional home end at Pittodrie).

International career

Harper was involved in a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

overseas tour in 1967, scoring five times against a Canada Olympic team. The Scottish Football Association decided in October 2021 to reclassify this game as a full international. He next played for Scotland in October 1972, scoring in a 4–1 win against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He played in Scotland's next game but then fell out of the international reckoning, only earning a recall in 1975. By coincidence, the occasion was another away match with Denmark, but this was overshadowed by a controversial off-field incident; Harper and several teammates were given lifetime bans by the Scottish Football Association after it was alleged that they had been involved in a nightclub incident where a light was broken and an altercation followed. Harper later said that he had been punished because he had returned to the team base in the same taxi as the other players. The ban on two of the players, Harper and

Arthur Graham Arthur Graham (born 26 October 1952) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a left winger for Aberdeen, Leeds United, Manchester United, Bradford City and the Scotland national team. Club career Graham was raised in the C ...

, was lifted a year later. Harper was selected in the Scotland squad for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. He appeared in the 1–1 draw against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, which was also his last international appearance, as Scotland exited in the first round.

Later life

In 1981 Harper was appointed manager of then Highland League side

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

. He helped the ''Blue Toon'' to a second place league finish but his reported wages were beyond the club's means and he was replaced for the 1982–83 season by former Pittodrie teammate Dave Smith. Harper later managed

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

, where he was succeeded by

Steve Paterson Steven William Paterson (born 8 April 1958) is a Scottish football manager and former player. Nicknamed "Pele", after six first team games for Manchester United, his career was curtailed due an injury in a pre-season game after transferring t ...

in October 1990. Harper has also been a columnist for the '' Aberdeen Evening Express''. An autobiography, which was co-written by ''Evening Express'' sports editor Charlie Allan, was published in 2008. Harper was appointed honorary Club President of Aberdeenshire Amateur League side Halliburton AFC in 2009. In the early 21st century he often worked on home match days for Aberdeen in as the host of the 'Legends' Hospitality Lounge of the Richard Donald stand at

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they w ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first''

Honours

;Greenock Morton *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

: 1966–67 *

Renfrewshire Cup The Renfrewshire Cup was an annual association football competition between teams in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The final was generally a Renfrewshire derby contested between the two largest team ...

: 1966–67 ;Aberdeen *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

: 1979–80 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1969–70 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1976–77 *

: 1971–72 *

Aberdeenshire Cup The Aberdeenshire Cup is a Scottish football tournament for all senior clubs affiliated to the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association (ADFA), being clubs from the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Aberdeenshire C ...

: 1980–81 ;Individual * European Bronze Boot: 1971–72 *

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

: 2019

References

;Sources *Harry Reid (2005), ''The Final Whistle?'', Birlinn, *''King Joey'', Joe Harper with Charlie Allan, Birlinn (2008)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Joe 1948 births Living people Scottish footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Everton F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Peterhead F.C. managers Scottish football managers Scotland international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Greenock Scottish Football League players English Football League players Association football forwards Scottish Football League representative players Highland Football League players Keith F.C. players Scotland under-23 international footballers Scottish league football top scorers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Huntly F.C. managers Highland Football League managers