Neil Harris (footballer, born 1977)

Neil Harris

Harris as manager of Millwall in
Personal information
Full name	Neil Harris
Date of birth	(1977-07-12) 12 July 1977 (age 39)
Place of birth	Orsett, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	Millwall (head coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1998	Cambridge City
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	147	(32)
2011–2013	Southend United	40	(8)
Total		492	(141)
Teams managed
2013–2015	Millwall U21s
2013–2014	Millwall (caretaker)
2015–	Millwall
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Neil Harris (born 12 July 1977) is the manager of League One club Millwall. Harris is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker, and is Millwall's all-time record goalscorer, with 138 goals in all competitions. He broke the previous record of 111 goals, held by Teddy Sheringham, on 13 January 2009, during a 3–2 away win at Crewe Alexandra. He has made fourth most appearances for the club, with 432. He also played for Cambridge City, Cardiff City, Nottingham Forest, Gillingham and Southend 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 of Steve Lomas in January 2014, Harris was given the same role following the dismissal of Ian Holloway in March 2015 and was confirmed as permanent manager of Millwall on 29 April 2015.

Harris was born in Orsett, Essex and educated at Brentwood School. One of his earliest clubs was Maldon Town but his real football career began when he signed for Cambridge City. In December 1997 he had a trial at Liverpool, however this didn't lead to a transfer. He was later sold to Millwall for a fee of £30,000 on 25 March 1998. In his first full season, he was named player of the year for Millwall and later helped them to a Second Division championship in 2000–01 with a remarkable goal scoring record. 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 to Arthur Travers Harris. Neil Harris was diagnosed with testicular 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, the Neil Harris Everyman Appeal. By the end of his first spell at Millwall, Harris was not being played because the then player-manager Dennis Wise did not believe he was up to par, and that led him to sign for Cardiff City on loan to prove he was good enough for first team football at Millwall.