Frederick "Fred" Harris (2 July 1912 – October 1998) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er who played his whole professional career for Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

.

Biography

Fred Harris was born in Solihull

Solihull

Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...

, Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

. He joined Birmingham

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 as an inside-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 in 1933 at the age of 19. He was the club's leading scorer in season 1938–39

1938-39 in English football

The 1938–39 season was the 64th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 with 14 League goals and 17 in all competitions.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he converted to play as a wing-half

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 and played out the rest of his career in that position. His strong tackling and constructive use of the ball impressed manager Harry Storer

Harry Storer, Jr.

Harry Storer was an English professional footballer, cricketer and football manager.-Early life:Storer was born in West Derby, Liverpool, the son of Harry Storer...

 sufficiently to make him club captain. He is credited with recommending Johnny Berry

Johnny Berry

Reginald John "Johnny" Berry was an English football player. Berry joined Manchester United from Birmingham City in 1951. He was a natural right winger, with technique and pace as his strengths. He played 277 matches for Manchester United, scoring 44 goals along the way, including helping...

 to Birmingham, having seen him play for an Army team while both were serving in India during the war.
He won representative honours for the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 XI against the Scottish League

Scottish Football League

The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...

 in 1948–49

1948-49 in English football

The 1948–49 season was the 69th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Portsmouth won the First Division title for the first time with a team of no recognised stars and very few international players. They won the league by five points from Manchester United and Derby...

.

He retired from football in 1950, aged nearly 38, having made 312 appearances in all competitions for Birmingham and scored 68 goals. He then became a chiropodist and physiotherapist in the Acocks Green

Acocks Green

Acocks Green is an area and ward of south Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family who built a large house in the area in 1370. Acocks Green is one of the four wards making up Yardley formal district...

 district of Birmingham.

Fred Harris died in October 1998 at the age of 86.

Honours

• with Birmingham City
  • Top goalscorer 1939.
  • Football League South
    Football League North and South
    The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46...
    
     champions 1946.
  • Second Division
    Football League Second Division
    From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
    
    champions 1948.