| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Harwood [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 October 1960 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Perivale, England [1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Central Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1979 | Southampton | 0 | (0) |
| 1979 | → Wimbledon (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | Leatherhead | ||
| 1980–1981 | Port Vale | 19 | (1) |
| 1981–1983 | Leatherhead | ||
| 1983–1984 | Waterlooville | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Lee Harwood (born 4 October 1960) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Southampton, Wimbledon, Leatherhead, Port Vale, and Waterlooville.
Harwood started his career at Southampton, turning professional at 18 years old after serving as an apprentice. [3] He was loaned out to Wimbledon in the 1978–79 season, although he played just the one Fourth Division game at Plough Lane for Dario Gradi's "Dons". He was released from The Dell by manager Lawrie McMenemy and spent one season in the Isthmian League with Leatherhead.
Harwood signed for John McGrath's Port Vale in February 1980. [1] He formed an effective partnership with Phil Sproson and played 15 Fourth Division games towards the end of the 1979–80 season. [1] He scored his first goal in the Football League on 1 April, in a 3–2 defeat to Portsmouth at Vale Park. [1] He played six league and cup games in the 1980–81 season, but damaged a cartilage in August and endured four knee operations, forcing him to retire from full-time football in November 1981. [1] He did, however, return to his old club, Leatherhead and later played for Southern League side Waterlooville, featuring in their three matches against Northampton Town in 1983–84, the only time Ville faced a league team in the FA Cup. [1] Another serious knee injury forced early retirement from football 1984.
Source: [4]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Wimbledon (loan) | 1978–79 | Fourth Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Port Vale | 1979–80 | Fourth Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| 1980–81 | Fourth Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals.
Robert William Smith is an English former footballer and football manager. He was capped by England at Schoolboys and Youth level. He is the son of Conway Smith and grandson of Billy Smith, from whom he gets his middle name.
John Thomas McGrath was an English footballer and manager in the Football League.
Clinton William Boulton was an English professional footballer. A defender, he made 506 league appearances in a 14-year career in the Football League.
Michael John Mahon is an English former footballer who played as a winger. He scored 57 goals in 256 league games during a six-year career in the English Football League.
Reuben Omojola Folasanje Agboola is a former professional footballer who played at left back. He made 268 league appearances in a 13-year career in the Football League. He made nine appearances for Nigeria between 1991 and 1993, appearing at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations.
Raymond Walker is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 440 games for Port Vale in all competitions between 1986 and 1997, ensuring himself a place in the club's history. He was twice the club's player of the season, and was named on the PFA Team of the Year three times. He was promoted twice with the club and also played a part in the club's highest ever post-war finish in the English Football League. With Aston Villa in the early '80s, he joined Port Vale in 1986, after a short loan spell in 1984. After eleven years at Vale Park he went into non-League football with Leek Town and Newcastle Town.
Kenneth Beech is an English former footballer. A midfielder, he played for Port Vale between 1976 and 1981, picking up the club's Player of the Year award in 1980, also playing on loan at American club Cleveland Cobras in 1978. In 1981, he was sold to Walsall before he moved on to Peterborough United two years later. He dropped into non-League football with Stafford Rangers in 1985, with whom he won the Conference League Cup, before he retired in 1988. He played 314 league games in the Football League, scoring 28 goals.
Phillip Jess Sproson is an English former footballer who played as a central defender. He played in 500 matches for Port Vale and scored 41 goals, this places him second in the list of appearances for Port Vale. He was the nephew of Port Vale defender Roy Sproson and son of Jess Sproson, who played for Vale between 1940 and 1947.
Robert George Gough is an English former footballer who played as a forward. In a fifteen-year professional career in the English Football League, he scored 114 goals in 474 league appearances.
Neil Griffiths is an English former footballer who played at left-back for Chester, Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, Stafford Rangers, Macclesfield Town, and Newcastle Town. He also briefly managed Macclesfield Town.
Paul Michael Anthony Bowles was an English footballer. A central defender, he scored 26 goals in 346 league appearances in an eleven-season career in the Fourth Division of the Football League.
Colin Tartt is an English former footballer. A midfielder, he made 478 league appearances in a 13-year career in the Football League.
Roy Cross is an English former footballer who played as a central defender. He played 161 games in a nine-year career in the Football League and 182 games in four seasons of play in the Southern League. He made 54 appearances in two Alliance Premier League campaigns.
Gerard Patrick Keenan is an English former footballer who played 240 league and cup games in the English Football League for Bury, Port Vale, and Rochdale from 1975 to 1984. He served Accrington Stanley as player-manager from 1984 to 1986. He later worked as player-manager at Ashton United, Rossendale United and Bacup Borough.
Kenneth Todd is an English former footballer who scored 11 goals in 52 games in the English Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Port Vale, and Portsmouth in the late 1970s. Despite being bought for £37,000 by Vale and £20,000 by "Pompey", he dropped into the Southern League with Fareham Town and Waterlooville.
Michael Moore is an English former footballer. A midfielder, he played for Preston North End and Port Vale but made his name at both Southport and Wigan Athletic. He helped Southport to the Fourth Division title in 1972–73. He played for Wigan in their first-ever season in the Football League. He also enjoyed an extensive non-League career, turning out for eleven different clubs, as well as spending a brief period in the United States with Dallas Tornado.
The 1979–80 season was Port Vale's 68th season of football in the Football League, and their second-successive season in the Fourth Division. One of the club's worst ever seasons, Vale finished twentieth in the league and exited both cup competitions at the first stage. They also lost a tremendous amount of money. There was also a managerial merry-go-round, with Dennis Butler replaced by Alan Bloor, who was in turn replaced by John McGrath, with Bill Bentley also spending a short period as caretaker manager.
The 1981–82 season was Port Vale's 70th season of football in the English Football League, and their fourth-successive season in the Fourth Division. John McGrath led his team to a seventh-place finish, a big improvement on the previous two seasons. Top-scorer Ernie Moss and midfielder Mark Chamberlain proved to be the stars of the season. The season was notable for Vale Park's lowest-ever Football League attendance.
The 1998–99 season was Port Vale's 87th season of football in the English Football League, and fifth-successive season in the First Division. It was the end of an era for the club, as manager of sixteen years John Rudge was sacked in January and was replaced by Brian Horton. As a testament to the upheaval at the club, a club record 43 players turned out for the Vale in the league throughout the season. The Vale just avoided relegation on goals scored, despite suffering a final day defeat to Bury, who were relegated having scored ten fewer goals. Liverpool knocked them out of the FA Cup in the Third Round, and Vale were also knocked out of the League Cup by fourth tier Chester City in the First Round. The sacking of Rudge spoiled what was supposed to be a happy season for Vale fans, as Vale competed in a division above rivals Stoke City for only the fourth time.