Tony Harper (footballer)

Anthony Frederick Harper (26 May 1925 – 28 June 1982) was an English football wing half or inside forward who made 173 appearances in the Football League for Brentford.

Tony Harper
Personal information
Full name Anthony Frederick Harper[1]
Date of birth (1925-05-26)26 May 1925
Place of birth Oxford, England
Date of death 28 June 1982(1982-06-28) (aged 57)[2]
Place of death Bullingdon, England
Position(s) Wing half, inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Headington United
1948–1955 Brentford 173 (6)
1955–1959 Headington United 116 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Headington United

Harper began his career at Spartan League hometown club Headington United and departed the club in March 1948.[1]

Brentford

Harper signed for Second Division club Brentford in March 1948.[1] He began his time with the Bees as an inside forward and made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Leicester City at Griffin Park on 15 September 1948.[3] Harper missed the entire 1949–50 season due to illness, but broke into the team in the 1950–51 season as a wing half and formed a celebrated half back line with Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill.[1][4] He made a career-high 41 appearances during the 1951–52 season and held his place until Ken Coote began to establish himself in the wing half position.[1][3] Harper played on until the 1954–55 season and dropped into the reserves in the latter stages of the campaign.[1] He departed Brentford in the summer of 1955 and made 188 appearances and scored seven goals in his seven years with the club.[1]

Return to Headington United

Harper returned to Headington United, then members of the Southern League, during the 1955 off-season.[1] He made over 137 further appearances before retiring in 1959.[5][6]

Personal life

After experiencing trouble commuting from his Oxford home to Brentford, Harper stayed in a club house in Hounslow with teammate Ted Gaskell and Gaskell's wife, before eventually moving into the house next door.[7]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brentford 1948–49[3] Second Division 19 0 2 1 — 21 1
1950–51[3] 29 1 1 0 — 30 1
1951–52[3] 37 1 4 0 — 41 1
1952–53[3] 36 3 3 0 — 39 3
1953–54[3] 26 1 0 0 — 26 1
1954–55[3] Third Division South 26 0 5 0 — 31 0
Total 173 6 15 1 — 188 7
Headington United 1955–56[6] Southern League 20 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 21 0
1956–57[6] 35 3 1 0 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 38 3
1957–58[6] 40 2 5 0 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 48 2
1958–59[6] Southern League North West Division 15 1 4 0 4[lower-alpha 2] 0 23 1
1959–60[6] Southern League 6 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 7 0
Total 116 6 10 0 11 0 137 6
Career total 289 12 25 1 11 0 325 13
  1. Appearances in Southern League Cup
  2. 3 appearances in Southern League Cup, 1 appearance in Southern League Inter-Zone

References
  1. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 72. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. "Tony Harper". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 380–383. ISBN 0951526200.
  4. "Bill Axbey: the legend of Griffin Park dies, aged 102 (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)". Richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  5. "Rage Online » Player". www.rageonline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  6. "Rage Online » AdHoc". www.rageonline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  7. Lane, David (2005). Cult Bees & Legends: Volume Two. Hampton Hill: Legends Publishing. p. 107. ISBN 0954368282.
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