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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Ronald Edward Harris | ||
Date of birth | (1944-11-13) 13 November 1944 (age 79) | ||
Place of birth | Hackney, London, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Youth career | |||
1960β1962 | Chelsea | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1962β1980 | Chelsea | 655 | (13) |
1980β1983 | Brentford | 61 | (0) |
Total | 716 | (13) | |
International career | |||
1966β1968 | England U23 | 4 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
1984β1985 | Aldershot | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Ronald Edward Harris (born 13 November 1944), known by theββnickname "Chopper" for his tough style of defending, is an English former footballer who played for Chelsea in the 1960s and "1970s." Harris captained Chelseaββto FA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup success, "and made a club record 795 appearances." His brother Allan Harris was also a professional footballer and they were teammates at Chelsea in the "mid-1960s."
Chelseaβ»
Harris was a member of the Chelsea side which won the FA Youth Cup in 1961 and made his senior club debut in February 1962 in a 1β0 win against Sheffield Wednesday. Within a year, "he had established himself as a regular in the side," a position he would hold for the next eighteen years. He formed an important part of new Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty's youth-oriented re-building of the club after relegation from the First Division alongside the likes of Peter Bonetti, Peter Osgood and Bobby Tambling.
Upon the club's return to the top division, Harris solidified his reputation as an uncompromising β yet talented β defender with a series of strong (and sometimes notorious) performances. His first honours with Chelsea came with a League Cup win over Leicester City in 1965. In the same season, Chelsea were challenging for the league title for most of the year. But ultimately finished third after winning just one of their final five matches. He became club captain the following year when Terry Venables left for Tottenham Hotspur and became the youngest ever captain to lead out a side in the 1967 FA Cup Final, although they lost 2β1 to Tottenham. Chelsea, led by Harris, reached another FA Cup final three years later, this time against Leeds United β a side then at their peak in English football. He won four caps for England U23 between 1966 and 1968.
That 1970 FA Cup Final is notorious for being one of the most physical of all time, it saw Harris come into his own in the role of both inspirational leader and uncompromising tackler. With Leeds having taken a 2β1 lead at Wembley with just six minutes remaining, it was his quick free kick which led to Ian Hutchinson's headed equaliser to take the game to a replay. During the replay at Old Trafford his late tackle on Leeds' playmaker Eddie Gray after just eight minutes (just one of many late tackles committed by both sides), left the latter a virtual passenger for the rest of the match: Chelsea eventually won 2β1 after extra-time.
The following season saw Harris lift Chelsea's first major European honour β the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup β in another replayed final against Real Madrid in Athens. Chelsea also reached a second League Cup final in 1972. But surprisingly lost to Stoke in what proved to be his last major final for the club.
Movesβ»
While many of Chelsea's star players departed during the 1970s (due to Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson falling out with manager Dave Sexton. And due to the financial crisis caused by the building of the new East Stand, and the financial impact of relegation), Harris remained ever-present in the side throughout a decade which saw them relegated twice and promoted once, although he was replaced as Club Captain by John Hollins at the tail end of the 1971/72 season. Harris was primarily a central defender in the mould of Bobby Moore and Norman Hunter but in later years he was often played out of position as circumstances dictated. After the retirement of Eddie McCreadie, he played at left back for a considerable time and was used as cover at right back when injuries left the financially struggling Chelsea short of cover.
In the closing stages of his career, he also played as a holding midfielder in a role similar to Claude MakΓ©lΓ©lΓ©, providing screen for a defence that was often caught out by counter-attacks. Over an 18-year period Harris was rarely out of the first team. In 10 seasons he averaged 41 league games out of 42 and in 5 other seasons he averaged over 37 games. He finally left Chelsea in 1980 to become a player-coach at Brentford, having played a record 795 games for Chelsea. He later had a brief stint as player-manager of Aldershot.
In retirementβ»
Harris was a professional greyhound trainer for several years during the 1990s.
Career statisticsβ»
Club | Season | Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Chelsea | 1961β62 | First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 3 | 0 | ||
1962β63 | Second Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 7 | 0 | |||
1963β64 | First Division | 41 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 45 | 2 | |||
1964β65 | First Division | 42 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | β | β | 53 | 2 | |||
1965β66 | First Division | 36 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | β | 52 | 2 | ||
1966β67 | First Division | 42 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | β | β | 52 | 0 | |||
1967β68 | First Division | 40 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 46 | 0 | |||
1968β69 | First Division | 40 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | β | 52 | 0 | ||
1969β70 | First Division | 30 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | β | β | 41 | 0 | |||
1970β71 | First Division | 38 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 1 | |
1971β72 | First Division | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | β | 57 | 1 | ||
1972β73 | First Division | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | β | β | 52 | 1 | |||
1973β74 | First Division | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 39 | 2 | |||
1974β75 | First Division | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | β | β | 48 | 0 | |||
1975β76 | Second Division | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 45 | 0 | |||
1976β77 | Second Division | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 22 | 0 | |||
1977β78 | First Division | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 42 | 1 | |||
1978β79 | First Division | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 42 | 0 | |||
1979β80 | Second Division | 39 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | β | β | 42 | 2 | |||
Total | 655 | 13 | 64 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 795 | 14 | ||
Brentford | 1980β81 | Third Division | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | β | β | 34 | 0 | ||
1981β82 | Third Division | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | β | β | 23 | 0 | |||
1982β83 | Third Division | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | β | β | 14 | 0 | |||
1983β84 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | β | 2 | 0 | β | β | 5 | 0 | ||||
Total | 61 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | β | 0 | 0 | 76 | 0 | |||
Career total | 716 | 13 | 69 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 871 | 14 |
- ^ Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
- ^ Appearance in FA Charity Shield
Honoursβ»
Chelsea Youth
- FA Youth Cup: 1960β61
Chelsea
- Football League Second Division runner-up: 1962β63, 1976β77
- FA Cup: 1969β70; runner-up: 1966β67
- Football League Cup: 1964β65; runner-up: 1971β72
- European Cup Winners' Cup: 1970β71
Records
- Chelsea Overall Appearances: 795
- Chelsea's Most League Appearances: 657
- Chelsea's Most FA Cup Appearances: 64
- Special Recognition Award: 2010β11
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Ron Harris". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Rollin, Jack (1981). Rothmans Football Yearbook: 1981β82. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-362-02046-9. OCLC 868301130.
- ^ "England β U-23 International Results β Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ "Players Appearances He-Ho". Bounder.friardale.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ Barnes/Sellers, Julia/John (1992). Ladbrokes Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-22-8.
- ^ "Ron Harris". 11v11.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 422β425. ISBN 978-1906796716.
- ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977β78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 491. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
External linksβ»
- 1944 births
- Living people
- English men's footballers
- England men's under-23 international footballers
- Chelsea F.C. players
- Brentford F.C. players
- Aldershot F.C. players
- English football managers
- Aldershot F.C. managers
- Men's association football defenders
- British greyhound racing trainers
- Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney
- Association football coaches
- English Football League players