| Neil Harris |
 Neil Harris was born on Tuesday, 30th October, 1894, in Tollcross, Glasgow. The 5' 8 (11st 2lbs) forward signed for George Easton's Thistle on Saturday, 7th June, 1913, having most recently been with Vale of Clyde. Aged 18, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 16th August, 1913, in a 2-1 win at home to Motherwell in the SFL First Division. Neil scored his first two goals for Thistle on Saturday, 23rd August, 1913, in a 4-3 defeat away to Falkirk in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 98 goals on Wednesday, 14th April, 1920, in a 1-0 win at home to Hibernian in the Scottish Football League. He played his last game for the club on Wednesday, 5th May, 1920, in a 4-0 defeat away to Rangers in the Glasgow Charity Cup, having clocked up 168 appearances as a Jag. His club-list included Wellshot Albion, Vale of Clyde, Partick Thistle, Kilmarnock, Rangers, St Mirren, Distillery, Fulham, Newcastle United, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Shelbourne, Third Lanark, Burton Town and Swindon Town. Neil died on Wednesday, 3rd December, 1941, in Swindon, Wiltshire, aged 47. |
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 Neil joined Thistle from Vale of Clyde in the summer of 1913, with the press taking the view that the goal-getter was an astute signing. He made his first team debut in August 1913, and that season the young centre-forward was in competition with Jim Marshall for the number 9 jersey. The following season he had the prolific Willie Whittle as his challenger, with both players being natural goalscorers. He scored his first hat-trick against Queen’s Park in a December 1914 First Division match at Firhill with Thistle winning 5-1. Neil, with 16 goals, was the top scorer in competitive matches for the 1915-16 season, with Willie Whittle in 3rd. He was 2nd top competitive match scorer in 1916-17, and back top again in 1917-18 with 15 goals. On 13 October 1917 Neil scored 4 goals in a 4-1 First Division victory against Hearts at Firhill, scoring his first 2 goals within 3 minutes of the opening. During the war footballers were expected to carry out war work as well as play. Neil worked as a hammerman in a Clyde shipyard. Bad timekeeping in the civilian occupation was frowned upon, and Neil appeared before a Munitions Tribunal in April 1918. He was found guilty, and fined £3. The prosecutor told the Tribunal that “his shooting should be in another direction”. This was despite the fact that Neil worked in a Scheduled (or Reserved) occupation, and even in 1918 shipbuilding was an industrial UK priority. Neil seems to have taken what he was told to heart, and he either joined the army, or was called up. When serving in Belfast he played as a guest with Distillery, and later as a guest at Fulham. Neil returned post-war for the 1919-20 season in dramatic form. He was first choice centre-forward for most of the season. He finished top competitive goal scorer with a massive total of 31 goals – way ahead of John Bowie in 2nd with 13 goals. All in all Neil made 168 Thistle appearances, and scored 98 goals in all matches, both competitive and non-competitive. The player was transferred to Newcastle in May 1970 for £3,000, and was just as prolific there, scoring 104 goals in 194 matches. He also played in Newcastle’s FA Cup run and appeared in the final, the Magpies defeatingh the Villa by 2 goals to nil. Outside left for the Geordies that day was Stan Seymour, another ex-Jag! Neil was awarded his only Scotland Cap in a Home International match against England at Wembley, also in 1924; England 1 Scotland 1. He went on to play for several other clubs, and had a managerial career as a player/manager and manager on ending his playing days. Neil’s elder brother, Jack, also played a couple of times for Thistle and starred as a footballer with Bristol City and Leeds United. His son, John, played as a centre-half for Chelsea and later managed Sheffield United. On account of his service during WWII, Neil is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned →. He's also included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists → |
| (DMAC) |
1 cap, 0 goals
d. Swindon, 1941 (47)
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