From the Independent today;
Harrison described himself as having been a “hard” player and strong tackler, adding: “I wasn’t frightened of putting my head in where it hurt.” His devotion to his trade and his team was exemplified by events on one Saturday in October 1962, when he got married in the morning and helped Halifax draw with Shrewsbury in the afternoon.
At his next club, Hartlepool United, he experienced an epiphany. In his 2001 autobiography, The View from the Dugout, he recalled that a new manager arrived. A brash character, who used his Monday team-talks to “slaughter” anyone who had performed poorly on Saturday, yet “made you feel 10 feet tall if you’d played well”. Harrison decided that if he ever had a team he would “make players feel 10 feet tall most of the time”. The newcomer was Brian Clough.
In 1972, after two spells with Barrow and stints at Southport and non-league Scarborough, Harrison moved into youth coaching with Everton. During his nine years at the club the team reached the FA Youth Cup final in 1977, after which he became assistant to manager Gordon Lee for three seasons.
After Lee’s sacking in 1981, Harrison was invited by the new Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson – a former teammate for the RAF football team during their national service – to take over their youth-development programme.
