Steve Harkness

Football player infobox
playername = Steve Harkness


nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1971|8|27
cityofbirth = Carlisle
countryofbirth = England
height = height|meters=1.79
currentclub =
position = Defender (retired)
years = 1989
1989-1999
1993
1995
1999
1999-2000
2000-2002
2002
clubs = Carlisle United
Liverpool
→ Huddersfield Town (loan)
→ Southend United (loan)
Benfica
Blackburn Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday
Chester City
Total
caps(goals) = 013 (0)
102 (3)
005 (0)
006 (0)
009 (0)
017 (0)
030 (1)
010 (0)
192 (4)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = England Youth
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Steve Harkness (born Carlisle, August 27 1971) is a former footballer who played for several clubs, most notably Liverpool.

Playing career

A defender or midfielder, most comfortable at left-back but able to play in a range of positions, he began his career with his hometown club, Carlisle United, signing professional forms on the 31 March 1989. After just 13 games for the Cumbrians he impressed sufficiently to be signed by Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish on 17 July 1989 for £75,000. He made his debut on the 27 August 1991 in the 1-0 league win over Queens Park Rangers at Anfield. His first goal for the Reds did not come until the 29 april 1995 in the 2-1 league win against Norwich City, on Carrow Road.

He was a favourite amongst many of the Liverpool supporters but never established himself as a first-team regular, making 140 appearances in his 6 years at the club. He was sent out on loan twice during his Anfield career, firstly to Huddersfield Town, where he played 6 times and also Southend United, where he, again, played 6 times.

He remained at Anfield until 1999 but was one of the first victims of the Houllier revolution, leaving to join up with old manager Graeme Souness at Benfica on the 9 March 1999 for £750,000. He only lasted five months in Portugal, however, reuiniting with Souness, again, at Blackburn Rovers on the 26 August '99 when he paid Benfica £400,000 for Harkness' signature. He made his debut for Rovers on the 6 November '99 in the 2-2 league draw with Ipswich Town at Ewood Park.

After a disappointing year, which saw Blackburn finish mid-table in the First Division, he was allowed to join Sheffield Wednesday for £200,000 after just 21 appearances. His Owls debut came on the 30 September 2000 in the 2-0 league defeat to Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium.

His two years at Hillsborough were plagued by injury, however, and he only managed 32 appearances in that time. He moved to Chester on a free transfer on the 11 July July 2002, playing under former team-mate Mark Wright, but he was forced to retire on the 2 November of that year, aged 31, having played just 10 times.

External links

*Soccerbase|3267|Steve Harkness
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=312 Profile] at [http://www.lfchistory.net/ LFCHistory.net]
* [http://sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/searchresults.asp?ButtonLe
]