Kevin Harper

Kevin Patrick Harper (born 15 January 1976) is a Scottish footballer who played for Hibernian, Derby County, Walsall, Portsmouth, Norwich City, Leicester City, Stoke City, Carlisle United and Dunfermline Athletic. At the age of thirty-nine, he came out of retirement to play for Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region side Thorniewood United.

Harper was born in Oldham and raised in Glasgow's Possilpark area, attending St. Theresa's Primary and St. Augustine's Secondary School.

Hibernian

Harper played for youth club Hutchison Vale in Edinburgh before he was signed by Hibernian and made his professional debut aged just 17. As a black footballer, Harper was in a small minority within Scottish football. He was unhappy that having claimed Gary Mackay had racially abused him during an Edinburgh derby game in November 1996, the SFA did not take action in response to his complaint.

England

Derby County manager Jim Smith signed Harper for £300,000 in September 1998. Despite clear potential, Harper failed to impress at Derby, scoring just two goals against Liverpool in the league and Swansea City in the FA Cup. He was loaned out to Walsall in December 1999 for the remainder of the season.

His spell at Walsall was cut short when Portsmouth made an offer of £300,000 for his services in March 2000. Harper moved to Fratton Park having started only seven games for Derby. The Scottish under-21 international soon settled into the team at Portsmouth, but missed much of the 2000–01 season with a shin splints problem. In 2001–02 he faced the brunt of fan frustration after a disappointing season, finishing the campaign with the dubious honour of having been sent off (twice) more times than he scored (once). However, he was a crucial member of the side that won the First Division title in 2002–03, and his excellent performances down either wing for Portsmouth earned him two monthly 'Swan d'Or' awards from the Norwegian Press Club and a place in the full Scotland squad.

Despite his impressive part in Portsmouth's promotion, Harper was loaned out to Norwich in September 2003. His loan spell at Carrow Road was initially for one month but was extended to three months. He played well at Norwich, but was also sent off for a two-footed tackle on Luciano Zavagno in a match against Derby County. He contributed nine league appearances during Norwich's 2003/04 season after which they were promoted to the Premier League as First Division champions in his absence. On his return to Fratton Park he made only nine appearances for Portsmouth in the 2003–04 season. After failing to regain his place at the start of the 2004–05 season he was loaned to Leicester City.

In January 2005 was sold to Stoke City. Despite starting his Stoke career impressively, Harper was dogged by injuries that prevented him challenging for a first team place. He scored once for Stoke, in a 3–1 win over Norwich City. Harper was loaned to Carlisle United in October 2006 and then Walsall, whom he had played for on loan earlier in his career. He was released by Stoke manager Tony Pulis in May 2007.

Return to Scotland

On 7 July 2007, Harper opted to join Dunfermline Athletic, of the Scottish First Division. He scored the winning goal against Stirling Albion on 25 August 2007 and played in Dunfermline's UEFA Cup matches at home 16 August and away 30 August against BK Hacken FC of Sweden. Harper's season was rather inconsistent, though on 25 March 2008, he scored a hat-trick in the re-arranged fixture against First Division strugglers Stirling Albion, whom he had scored his only other goal of the season against a few months earlier.

Coaching career

Following the departure of their Under 20s coach, SPFL side Airdrieonians appointed Harper as the replacement in July 2015. He left this post in September 2015. Harper has also set up his own football academy based in Stepps.

Thorniewood United

In November 2015, Thorniewood United manager and former Hibernian team-mate Andy Frame, persuaded Harper to come out of retirement and join the club in a player-coach role.

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