.JPG) Harris as manager ofMillwall, 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Harris[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-07-12)12 July 1977 (age 48)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Orsett, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cambridge United (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1996 | Maldon Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1998 | Cambridge City | 51 | (29) |
| 1998–2004 | Millwall | 233 | (93) |
| 2004 | →Cardiff City (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 2004–2007 | Nottingham Forest | 33 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | →Gillingham (loan) | 36 | (6) |
| 2007–2011 | Millwall | 141 | (31) |
| 2011–2013 | Southend United | 40 | (8) |
| 2014 | Rayleigh Town | 3 | (2) |
| Total | 489 | (142) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013–2014 | Millwall (caretaker) | ||
| 2015–2019 | Millwall | ||
| 2019–2021 | Cardiff City | ||
| 2022–2023 | Gillingham | ||
| 2023–2024 | Cambridge United | ||
| 2024 | Millwall | ||
| 2025– | Cambridge United | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Neil Harris (born 12 July 1977) is an English professionalfootball manager and formerfootballer who played as astriker. He is head coach ofEFL League Two clubCambridge United.
Harris is Millwall'sall-time record goalscorer, with 138 goals in all competitions. He broke the previous record of 111 goals, held byTeddy Sheringham, on 13 January 2009, during a 3–2 away win atCrewe Alexandra. He has made the fourth most appearances for the club, with 432. He also played forCambridge City,Cardiff City,Nottingham Forest,Gillingham andSouthend United. Harris retired from professional football in June 2013 and took up a coaching role at Millwall. Having briefly acted as caretaker-manager after the dismissal ofSteve Lomas in January 2014, Harris was given the same role following the dismissal ofIan Holloway in March 2015 and was confirmed as permanent manager of Millwall on 29 April 2015. He moved on to become manager ofCardiff City in November 2019. In January 2022, Harris was appointed as the new first team manager of Gillingham on a two-and-a-half-year contract. In late 2023, he joinedCambridge United but less than three months later he left the club to return to Millwall.
Harris was born inOrsett, Essex,[1] and educated atBrentwood School. Prior to beginning his professional football career he worked inThe City as aninsurance underwriter.[2]
One of his earliest clubs wasMaldon Town but his real football career began when he signed forCambridge City for £5,000.[2] In December 1997 he had a trial atLiverpool,[3] however this didn't lead to a transfer. He was later sold toMillwall for a fee of £30,000 on 25 March 1998, with the potential to rise to £100,000 based on performance. In his first full season, he was named player of the year for Millwall, scored in their defeat in the1999 Football League Trophy final and later helped them to a Second Division championship in 2000–01.[2] With 27 goals, Harris was the Golden Boot winner for being the top English goal scorer during the 2000–01 season, earning him the nickname of "Bomber", in reference toArthur Travers Harris. Neil Harris was diagnosed withtesticular cancer in 2001, but after receiving intensive treatment including surgery, he was given the all clear a year later. As a consequence he set up a cancer charity, theNeil Harris Everyman Appeal.[4] By the end of his first spell at Millwall, Harris was not being played because the thenplayer-managerDennis Wise did not believe he was up to par, and that led him to sign forCardiff City onloan to prove he was good enough for first team football at Millwall.
Harris made his debut for Cardiff City when he replacedCameron Jerome during a 3–1 win overGillingham and, after one more substitute appearance, was handed his first and only start for Cardiff when managerLennie Lawrence named him to play againstSheffield United and he repaid the faith shown in him by scoring Cardiff's only goal of the game in a 2–1 defeat.[5]
Cardiff City and Harris could not agree terms and he was subsequently sold toNottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee after they were relegated toFootball League One in the 2004–05 season.
Harris was unable to make an impact at theCity Ground so was loaned out toGillingham[6] who had also beenrelegated to League One at the same time as Nottingham Forest. He scored six goals for Gillingham during his season long loan spell, at the end of which he returned to Forest.
Harris was hoping to make an impact under new managerColin Calderwood. Harris's old club Millwall made a loan deal for him on a six-month deal in August 2006, however Harris rejected the offer saying if he were to move it would have to be on a permanent basis, and withDarren Byfield andBen May set to return from injury for Millwall, Harris believed he would have once again been forced out the side, which was the reason he leftThe Den in the first instance. Millwall therefore, withdrew from transfer negotiations.
Harris finally opened his goal-scoring account for Forest on 2 September 2006, after 21 months of waiting in a 4–0 victory againstChesterfield.[7] It was a cutely struck volley from a few yards out. His and his teammates' joy was clear to see in his celebration, as he ran towards the corner of the stadium and did not look as though he would stop, until his teammates caught up. In the post match report, he admitted he was finally enjoying life at Nottingham Forest. Nonetheless, a certain contingent of the Forest fans still criticised Harris for his relatively poor scoring record and somewhat poor performance record.
In January 2007 Harris' contract was terminated by mutual consent.[citation needed]
Harris re-signed with Millwall on an 18-month contract on 8 January 2007, less than 24 hours after leaving Forest. Speaking toBBC Sport the next day Harris stated, "There is something special about this club, it brings out the best in me as a player and a person. It feels like home, it always has done. I can't wait to get started."
On 20 January 2007, in his second game for Millwall, Harris made club history by scoring in the 16th minute of the 4–0 win overRotherham to become Millwall's top league goal scorer with 94 goals, surpassing the previous club record of 93 goals he had jointly held withTeddy Sheringham. Harris informed theSouth London Press, on 23 January, that it was his intention to surpass Sheringham's 111 goal total for Millwall, stating: "There is no question of me relaxing after one goal. At last I can say, without putting too much pressure on myself, that I want Teddy's overall record. The thing I've always wanted is to be number one, and that means getting a total of 112."[citation needed]
Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, as the club were mired in a relegation battle, Millwall bossKenny Jackett told Harris that his contract would not be renewed in the summer as he was not in his first team plans for the following season; younger players such asLewis Grabban,Gary Alexander,Bas Savage andMarc Laird had pushed him down the pecking order. Harris responded by stating that he had no intention of leaving the club he loved in its hour of need. Jackett brought Harris back into the first team squad on 15 March 2008, due to an injury to Gary Alexander that kept him out for the remainder of the season. Harris was instrumental in securing Millwall's League One status, scoring one goal and turning provider for the other two in Millwall's 3–0 home win overCarlisle United on 26 April. After a strong set of performances, the 30-year-old striker had managed to change Kenny Jackett's mind and was offered a new one-year contract on 6 May. Harris stated: "The club have made me a new offer which has pleased me professionally, because it shows that I have done enough to change the manager's mind. That makes me very happy."[citation needed] Harris signed a new one-year contract with The Lions on 4 June 2008.[8]
On 13 January 2009, Harris broke Teddy Sheringham's all time goal scoring record for Millwall during the 3–2 away win against Crewe Alexandra with his 112th goal for the club.[9] On 4 April, Harris signed a new one-year extension to his contract.
On 9 May 2009, Harris scored a vital 71st-minute goal in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Leeds United to put them 1–0 up going into the second leg at Elland Road.
On 11 August 2009, Harris scored a hattrick in a first roundLeague Cup tie at home toAFC Bournemouth.[10] Neil also scored the opening goal in the 3–1 extra time defeat toWest Ham in the next round of the League Cup.[11]Harris scored once in the 3–1 victory overHuddersfield Town,[12] and also netted a hat-trick in the 4–0 away win atStockport County.[13]
Harris suffered minor injuries during the latter part of the autumn 2009, but was in form again in January.
On 28 January 2010, Harris prolonged his contract with Millwall until 2012.[14]
On 9 June 2011, Harris agreed a three-year deal withSouthend United. He had a year to run on his deal with Millwall but manager, Kenny Jacket agreed to cancel the striker's contract by mutual consent allowing him to sign for his hometown club on a free transfer.[15] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win at Rotherham United on 24 September 2011.[16] Harris retired on 21 June 2013 after failing to recover from an injury.[17][18]
In the infancy of the2014–15 season, Harris played three times forEssex Olympian League sideRayleigh Town.[19][20]
Before taking over as permanent manager in the summer of 2015, Harris had several stints as caretaker manager.
First, he became caretaker manager, along withScott Fitzgerald, taking over from the sackedSteve Lomas, on 26 December 2013, in which time they played 3 games, drawing one and losing twice, including a 4–1 away loss toSouthend United in theFA Cup.[21] The couple were then replaced byIan Holloway on 7 January 2014.
Harris then again took over as caretaker boss on 10 March 2015, when Holloway was sacked.[22] By the time Harris took over, Millwall were already virtually, whilst not mathematically, relegated, however Harris went on to win 2 and draw 4 of his 9 games in charge, almost keeping the Lions in theChampionship. On 28 April, the Lions were officially relegated toLeague One followingRotherham United's 2–1 win againstReading,[23] however, Harris was confirmed as Millwall's permanent manager less than 24 hours later,[24][25] with his assistant being his2004 FA Cup final teammate,David Livermore.
In his first full season as manager Harris led Millwall to the League One play-off final against Barnsley at Wembley after finishing 4th in the League One table and overcoming Bradford City 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals. The Lions lost the play-off final 3–1 to Barnsley.
In 2016–17 season Harris again led Millwall to Wembley after they finished 6th in the League One table and overcameScunthorpe United 3–2 in the play-off semi-finals. Millwall won the play-off final againstBradford City 1–0 to win promotion to the Championship. He also led Millwall to the FA Cup quarter-finals after knocking out three Premier League teams Bournemouth,Watford and Premier League ChampionsLeicester City before losing 6–0 againstTottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals.
On 3 October 2019, Harris resigned as manager of Millwall.[26]
On 16 November 2019, Harris was appointed manager of Championship side Cardiff City.[27] In his first season, he finished 5th in the league taking Cardiff to the play-off semi-finals against Fulham.
On 21 January 2021, Harris was sacked from Cardiff City.[28] The Bluebirds had initially only won three of their opening 13 fixtures of the season, inviting pressure on Harris. Despite later securing a 4-match winning streak, a run 6 straight defeats afterwards sealed his fate as manager.[29]
On 31 January 2022, Harris was appointed as manager ofLeague One sideGillingham, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Kent side.[30] His first season ended in relegation to League Two.[31] After receiving a red card in the penultimate game of the2021–22 season againstPortsmouth, Harris was given a touchline ban that would see him miss the first match of the club's first League Two season in ten years as well as receiving a £1,000 fine.[32]
In the2022–23 season Harris steered Gillingham to the fourth round of theEFL Cup for only the third time in the club's history. The Gills defeatedPremier League sideBrentford on penalties in the third round, before succumbing to another top tier side inWolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 in the following round.[33][34] He was dismissed from the role in October 2023.[35]
On 6 December 2023, Harris was appointed head coach of League One clubCambridge United on an 18-month contract.[36]
On 21 February 2024, Harris returned to Millwall as head coach on an 18-month contract. The Lions were then 21st in the Championship, one point above the relegation zone.[37] Under Harris' stewardship, the club recorded 26 points from 13 games to finish 13th in the table, concluding the season with a 1-0 away victory atSwansea City, which formed part of a five-game winning streak.[38] On 10 December 2024, with Millwall 11th in the Championship, Harris said he would be leaving the club following the side's match atMiddlesbrough on 14 December 2024.[39]
On 19 February 2025, Harris returned to League One bottom side Cambridge United as head coach.[40]
Source:[41]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Millwall | 1997–98 | Second Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | Second Division | 39 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[a] | 3 | 46 | 18 | |
| 1999–2000 | Second Division | 38 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 44 | 25 | |
| 2000–01 | Second Division | 42 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 50 | 28 | |
| 2001–02 | First Division | 21 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| 2002–03 | First Division | 40 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 12 | |
| 2003–04 | First Division | 38 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 10 | |
| 2004–05 | Championship | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 15 | 1 | |
| Total | 233 | 93 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 268 | 98 | ||
| Cardiff City (loan) | 2004–05 | Championship | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Nottingham Forest | 2004–05 | Championship | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | League One | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | League One | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| Total | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| Gillingham (loan) | 2005–06 | League One | 36 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 39 | 6 |
| Millwall | 2006–07 | League One | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5 |
| 2007–08 | League One | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| 2008–09 | League One | 35 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 1 | 43 | 11 | |
| 2009–10 | League One | 32 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3[e] | 0 | 41 | 16 | |
| 2010–11 | Championship | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| Total | 141 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 164 | 40 | ||
| Southend United | 2011–12 | League Two | 33 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[f] | 2 | 42 | 10 |
| 2012–13 | League Two | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 52 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 486 | 140 | 31 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 32 | 6 | 566 | 156 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Millwall (caretaker) | 26 December 2013 | 7 January 2014 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 000.00 | [42][43] |
| Millwall | 10 March 2015 | 3 October 2019 | 245 | 102 | 66 | 77 | 041.63 | [42] |
| Cardiff City | 16 November 2019 | 21 January 2021 | 62 | 24 | 18 | 20 | 038.71 | [42] |
| Gillingham | 31 January 2022 | 5 October 2023 | 90 | 31 | 25 | 34 | 034.44 | [42] |
| Cambridge United | 6 December 2023 | 21 February 2024 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 035.71 | [42] |
| Millwall | 21 February 2024 | 14 December 2024 | 35 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 042.86 | [42] |
| Cambridge United | 19 February 2025 | Present | 39 | 16 | 8 | 15 | 041.03 | [42] |
| Total | 487 | 192 | 130 | 165 | 039.43 | |||
Millwall
Individual
Millwall
Individual
