- Jim Harvey
Jim Harvey (born
May 2 1958 inLurgan ) is a Northern Irish football player and coach. He is the current manager ofNationwide Conference sideForest Green Rovers .Playing career
As a player, Harvey began his career at Glenavon, before joining Arsenal in 1977. He made only three League appearances and one
UEFA Cup appearance in three years for the Gunners, his debut coming against Derby County onMay 9 1978 .Harvey moved to Hereford United in 1980, where he made 278 league appearances. He had brief spells at Bristol City and then on loan to Wrexham, before moving to Tranmere Rovers in 1987; there he played 239 matches, scoring 19 goals, and became club captain.
Spells at Crewe Alexandra, Southport and Chester City (youth coach) followed, and he finished his playing career as player-manager at Morecambe.
Managerial career
Harvey joined Morecambe as player-manager in July 1994 and led them into the Conference in 1996. He also led Morecambe to 2nd place in the Conference in 2003, before being defeated on penalties in the semi-final against Dagenham &Redbridge. He also served as assistant manager to long-time friend
Sammy McIlroy when McIlroy was in charge of the Northern Ireland national side.Harvey suffered a
heart attack before a league match against Cambridge United in November 2005. Harvey was given time off to recuperate and his McIlroy was installed as caretaker manager. McIlroy took Morecambe into the play-offs during Harvey's absence, and on Harvey's first day back after his illness in May 2006, he was sacked with McIlroy being installed as permanent manager in his place. Harvey's sacking from Morecambe has led to serious animosity between the two former friends and colleagues - they refused to shake hands when Harvey's Forest Green side met McIlroy's Morecambe atChristie Park in November 2006.Fact|date=June 2008After spending the pre-season coaching at Crewe Alexandra, in September 2006, Harvey replaced
Gary Owers to become Forest Green Rovers' seventh manager in nine seasons. He took over a team bottom of Conference the with just 2 points from the first 6 games and led them to safety with a game to spare.References
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2006/05/16/morecambe_harvey_feature.shtml BBC Sport - Harvey Leaves Morecambe ]
* [http://www.morecambefc-supporters.org.uk/jimharvey.htm Jimmy Harvey] from a Morecambe fansite
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