Youth team coach brought Manchester United’s golden generation to the fore
Eric Harrison, who has died aged 81, played a central role in the extraordinary success of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. After the club had endured nearly 20 years of underachievement, Ferguson was appointed manager in 1986, and Harrison played a central role in the renaissance, developing a corps of youngsters who would help take United to new heights of footballing glory.
He had been at the club for five years, looking after the youth set-up, when the man who had brought him in, Ron Atkinson, was sacked. Ferguson decided to keep Harrison on, although he was insistent that things had to improve; there were raised voices.
‘‘The Boss called me into his office and informed me he thought the standard of youngsters was simply not good enough. I told him to get me some better lads, and I would produce more first-team players for him. ‘I’ll get you the best,’ he replied. That was it, we were up and running.’’
Although it took a few years, a golden generation – the so-called ‘‘class of ’92’’ – broke through. The likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, and Nicky Butt formed the homegrown heart of Ferguson’s first great United side, that would go on to win silverware galore, including the still unmatched 1999 treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
The youngsters were also known as ‘‘Fergie’s fledglings’’, but Harrison had as much to do with their progress, as Ferguson recalled. ‘‘He was a teacher, he gave these players a path, a choice, and he only did that through his own hard work and sacrifice. He was able to impart that education to the young, which made him one of the greatest coaches of our time.’’
Eric Harrison was born near Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire. He played for his school at cricket and football, but the latter won out. While serving an electrician’s apprenticeship he joined the ground staff at his local side, Halifax Town, then of the Third Division North – they joined the new Third Division the following year.
‘‘I only ever wanted to play for my hometown club and, when I signed for Halifax Town, that meant everything to me,’’ he said. ‘‘Even more so than what came later with Sir Alex.’’
He did his National Service with the RAF, released at weekends to turn out for Halifax. A combative wing-half, he stayed for seven years, playing nearly 200 league games. In
Sir Alex Ferguson on Eric Harrison
October 1962, he married his girlfriend Shirley in the morning then helped Halifax secure a 2-2 draw with Peterborough United in the afternoon.
In 1964 he moved to Hartlepools United (as they were then known), who were in the Fourth Division. For the second of his two seasons there the manager, in his first job, was Brian Clough.
‘‘I picked up a lot from him,’’ Harrison recalled. ‘‘At his Monday team talks, you were literally shaking if you had done something wrong on the Saturday, because he would absolutely slaughter you. But, there again, if you had done well, he made you feel 10ft tall. So I watched his methods, and I thought to myself: ‘I’ll try to get the positives out of that, and aim to make the players feel 10ft tall most of the time.’ ’’
Harrison’s powerful midfield displays helped Hartlepool, as they soon became, into the Third Division, before two spells at Barrow and one at Southport. On retirement he joined the coaching staff at Everton. He was there for eight years, but when he was forced out by a change of manager in 1981 he telephoned an
old friend from his RAF days, Ron Atkinson, who took him to Manchester United to develop the club’s youth set-up.
When Atkinson was sacked in 1986, Ferguson was brought in, took the wise decision to keep Harrison on and, after a difficult first few seasons, the glory years kicked in.
After the 1999 treble, Harrison scaled back his work at United. In 2001 his autobiography, The View from the Dugout, was published, and the following year he undertook a nationwide coaching tour with former England forward Sir Geoff Hurst. The same year, when one of his old United charges, Mark Hughes, became Wales manager, he took Harrison on as his assistant.
Eric Harrison was appointed MBE in 2018; suffering from dementia, he was unable to travel to Buckingham Palace, and the insignia were presented to him at Halifax.
His wife Shirley survives him, along with their two daughters. –
‘‘He was able to impart that education to the young, which made him one of the greatest coaches of our time.’’