Gerald William Harris (8 October 1935 – 28 July 2020) was an English professional footballer. He spent the majority of his league career with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, with whom he won two league championships and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Career

Harris was signed up by Wolves as an amateur after an unsuccessful trial at West Bromwich Albion in 1953. He turned professional in January 1954, but spent a few seasons in the reserves before finally making his senior debut on 29 August 1956 in a 5–4 win over

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. He initially only found himself in the team in order to cover for the then-injured Bill Shorthouse, but made the position his own. He was a virtual ever-present over the period 1956–1961, which saw the club win two successive league championships - missing out on a third by a single point - and the 1960 FA Cup. He also appeared in every European Cup game in the club's history to date. The emergence of Bobby Thomson in 1962 though, pushed Harris out of the first team and he was again consigned to reserve team football over the next few seasons. He returned to contention in the 1964–65 campaign which ended in relegation. He played just twice more for the club after the drop, before moving to neighbours

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in 1966, after a total of 270 appearances for Wolves. However, injury curtailed his career with the ''Saddlers'' after just 12 months. After retirement from professional playing, Harris continued to appear in charity matches for the veteran team Wolves Old Stars and he was also captain of the Bylet Bowling Club at

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

. Harris died in July 2020 aged 84.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1957–58, 1958–59 *

: 1959–60

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gerry 1935 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Shropshire English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Men's association football defenders