Roly Harper

Rowland Richard George Harper (April 1881 – August 1949) was an English professional footballer who made 34 appearances in the First Division of the Football League playing for Birmingham, Aston Villa and Notts County.[2]

For the British Olympic hurdler, see Roland Harper (athlete).

Roly Harper
Personal information
Full name Rowland Richard George Harper
Date of birth April 1881
Place of birth Lichfield, England
Date of death August 1949 (1949-09) (aged 68)
Place of death Birmingham, England
Position(s) Outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Walsall Wood
1904–1907 Small Heath / Birmingham[lower-alpha 1] 22 (1)
1907 Burton United 0 (0)
1907–1908 Aston Villa 2 (0)
1908–1910 Notts County 10 (1)
1910–19?? Mansfield Invicta
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Harper was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He began his football career with Walsall Wood before joining Small Heath of the Football League First Division in 1904.[3] He made his debut for the club, by then renamed Birmingham, on 16 December 1905, scoring in a 5–0 win at home to Nottingham Forest, and played fairly regularly for the rest of that season,[4] but lost his place to Charlie Tickle when the latter recovered from injury. Towards the end of the 1906–07 season he moved on to Burton United, but never played for the league team, and left for Aston Villa when Burton failed to gain re-election to the Football League.[3][5] Harper played only twice for Villa before being sold together with Jimmy Cantrell to Notts County in March 1908.[6] After making only ten league appearances in two seasons he dropped into non-league football with Mansfield Invicta.[2][3] Harper died in Birmingham in August 1949 at the age of 68.[6]

Notes
  1. Small Heath was renamed Birmingham ahead of the 1905–06 season.[1]

References
  1. "Small Heath". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  4. Matthews, p. 152.
  5. "Burton United". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  6. "Harper, Rowland Richard George (Roly)". Aston Villa Player Database. Jörn Mårtensson. Retrieved 17 March 2009.


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