Karl Harrison (runner)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Karl Harrison (born 20 February 1964) is an English former professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
ed in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for both
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and at club level for Bramley,
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...
,
Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...
(two spells) and Halifax, as a . and has coached at representative level for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and at club level for
Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...
, Salford City Reds,
Batley Bulldogs The Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club in Batley, West Yorkshire, who play in the Championship. Batley were one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. ...
and Halifax. Harrison is a Halifax Hall of Fame Inductee.


Background

Harrison was born in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, England. He attended Morley Grammar School, where he began playing rugby union. He is married to Suzanne and they have two sons; Samuel (born September 1992), and
James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...
(born June 1995).


Playing career

Karl Harrison started his professional career at Bramley, making his début on 20 March 1983 against Swinton, with his last game coming on 15 December 1985 against
Blackpool Borough Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and wa ...
. He was transferred from Bramley to
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...
in 1985, he made his début for Featherstone Rovers on Sunday 22 December 1985 and he played his last match for Featherstone Rovers during the 1988–89 season, he was transferred from Featherstone Rovers to
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...
in 1989, and helped them win the Premiership in 1991. He was reluctantly transferred from Hull F.C. to Halifax a year later in a £100,000 deal. He played for the
Point Chevalier Pirates The Point Chevalier Pirates are a New Zealand rugby league club based in Point Chevalier. The Pirates currently compete in the Fox Memorial (First Division) competition run by the Auckland Rugby League. History The club was founded in 1919 Au ...
in the
Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...
competition in the off-season. Harrison played , in
Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...
's 14–4 victory over
Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
in the Premiership Final during the 1990–91 season at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
, Manchester on Sunday 12 May 1991. He was selected to go on the
1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team, nicknamed the 'Lions', of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and July 1992. The tour was the last of such length un ...
. He won the last of his 14 Great Britain caps in 1994. Harrison was selected to play for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in the 1995 World Cup Final at but
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
won the match, and retained the cup.


Coaching career

Karl Harrison was a coach at Halifax, and then head coach at
Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
before moving to Bradford Bulls, where he worked for two years as an Assistant Coach under Brian Noble. He was appointed as head coach at Salford City Reds in June 2002, replacing
Steve McCormack Steve McCormack is a rugby league coach. He was head coach of Scotland until 2017 and was the longest reigning coach in the nation's history having held the role since 2004. He has also had an extensive club coaching career, having coached Sal ...
. Although he was unable to prevent Salford City Reds being relegated from
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
in 2002, Harrison remained, and led Salford City Reds to promotion back to the top tier of the sport at the first attempt, winning the Arriva Trains Cup on the way. Harrison claims that he was approached to take part in reality television show, '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2004, but turned the opportunity down, citing training commitments at Salford City Reds. Harrison was also coach of the
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
team, replacing
John Kear John Kear (born 25 November 1954) is an English professional rugby league coach, for the Wales national rugby league team. He also works as a pundit for BBC Sport and is a former professional rugby league footballer. He is perhaps best known a ...
, from 2004 until 4 August 2006, when he announced that he would be stepping down from the position. In mid-February 2007, there were suggestions that Harrison could return to a role with the international team, but the Salford City Reds chairman, John Wilkinson denied the rumours. He was the head coach of Salford City Reds rugby league team for five years, before being sacked on 22 May 2007. Following his sacking as Salford coach, Harrison returned to rugby league 18 months later as Senior Scholarship Coach at
Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...
late in 2008.Giants give Harrison coaching job
/ref> He became Head Coach of
Batley Bulldogs The Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club in Batley, West Yorkshire, who play in the Championship. Batley were one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. ...
where he was to become a fans' favourite, turning the playing squad around drastically after
Gary Thornton Gary Thornton is an English rugby league coach, and currently head coach of Rochdale Hornets. He has previously coached at Hunslet RLFC and Castleford Tigers U20s academy side from 2009 to 2012. in September 2022, he was announced as head-coach ...
's departure. He took Batley to the final of the Northern Rail Cup in 2010, where they beat the favourites,
Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...
. His last season at Batley Bulldogs was 2011 when they finished a creditable 4th in the Cooperative Championship. In 2012 he rejoined Halifax as head coach.


References


External links


Search for "Karl Harrison" AND "Rugby League at BBC → Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Karl 1964 births Living people Batley Bulldogs coaches Bramley R.L.F.C. players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players England national rugby league team coaches England national rugby league team players Featherstone Rovers players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Halifax Panthers coaches Halifax Panthers players Keighley Cougars coaches Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league props Rugby league players from Leeds Salford Red Devils coaches 20th-century English sportsmen