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)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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. ASIN B00NPZL58S. ISBN 0954368282.
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