Jack Harkness (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Diamond Harkness | ||
| Date of birth | 27 September 1907 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 6 October 1985 (aged 78) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1925–1928 | Queen's Park | 93 | (0) |
| 1928–1937 | Heart of Midlothian | 292 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1927–1933 | Scotland | 12 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
John Diamond "Jack" Harkness MBE (27 September 1907 – 6 October 1985) was a Scottish international footballer, best remembered as the goalkeeper in the famous "Wembley Wizards" Scotland side of 1928.
After leaving school aged eighteen, Harkness joined his local side Queen's Park in 1925 and stayed there for three seasons. In line with their Corinthian ideals, he played as an amateur during his spell at Hampden. Despite playing against professional and semi-professional sides, the Spiders managed to maintain a respectable position in Division One and Harkness was soon regarded as a key component in the side.
In May 1928, Heart of Midlothian lured Harkness into the professional ranks, making him their highest paid player in the process. Hearts were frequent top five finishers and the increased profile this afforded Harkness allowed him to become a regular international player. The Maroons of this era were a talented yet inconsistent side however, and during his nine seasons in Gorgie, Harkness failed to win any major honours. A prime example of Hearts' unpredictability was season 1932–33, when both reigning champions Motherwell and eventual champions Rangers were defeated, yet dropped points to lesser sides ensured they only achieved a third-place finish.
Harkness won the admiration of Celtic fans in an incident involving Celtic forward Jimmy McGrory. In a match between Hearts and Celtic, McGrory made a dive in an attempt to score with a header. However, Harkness realised McGrory was going to collide against the goalpost, and as such pushed the Celtic player away round the post to protect him from serious injury. The Celtic fans shouted for a penalty and booed the Hearts goalkeeper for the remainder of the game. McGrory, however, highlighted his gratitude for Harkness' action and the following season in a game between the two clubs, the Celtic fans gave Harkness a prolonged ovation as he took up his position in goal.
...
Wikipedia