Carlisle United 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 31 March 1989. After just 13 games for the Cumbrians he impressed sufficiently to be signed by
Liverpool.
Liverpool He joined under manager
Kenny Dalglish on 17 July
1989 for
£75,000. At this time Liverpool were still the dominant side in England as
holders of the
FA Cup and having not finished lower than champions or runners-up in the
First Division since 1981. However, Harkness did not walk straight into the first team at
Anfield, as
David Burrows was the club's first choice left-back. By the time Dalglish resigned on 22 February 1991, Harkness had been at Liverpool for 19 months but had still yet to make his competitive debut. Dalglish was succeeded by
Graeme Souness as Liverpool manager and it was Souness who gave Harkness his Liverpool debut, two years after arriving, in the 1–0 league win over
Queens Park Rangers at
Anfield on 27 August 1991 – his 20th birthday. His first goal for the Reds did not come until the 29 April 1995 in the 2–1 league win against
Norwich City, at
Carrow Road. He was out of the side between December 1994 and mid-April 1995 meaning he missed the victorious
1995 Football League Cup Final. on 6 April 1996 and was out of action for nearly a year afterwards. He missed the
1996 FA Cup Final, which Liverpool lost 1–0 to
Manchester United, and also missed the bulk of the
1996–97 season, in which Liverpool frequently led the Premier League until being leapfrogged by Manchester United in late January and were ultimately unable to stop their north-west rivals from retaining the league title. He made 140 appearances in his six years at the club. He was sent out on loan twice during his Anfield career, firstly to
Huddersfield Town, where he played six times and also
Southend United, where he, again, played six times. He remained at Anfield until
1999 but was one of the first victims of the
Gérard Houllier revolution. His period at Liverpool was marred by him becoming the first player to be reported to the FA for racist abuse.
Stan Collymore alleged that during a 1998 match for
Aston Villa against Liverpool, Harkness subjected him to a 10-minute barrage of insults pertaining to his mixed-race heritage. Harkness denied the allegations. Later that year in another match between the two teams, Collymore went in with a two-footed challenge on Harkness's standing leg in the ninth minute of the match, causing him to be substituted with injury.
Benfica and Blackburn Rovers Harkness left Anfield to join up with old manager
Graeme Souness at
Benfica on 9 March 1999 for £750,000. He was one of several British players signed for the
Lisbon club by Souness, and chose to wear only his first name on the back of his shirt there. He only lasted five months in Portugal, however, before
Brian Kidd brought him to recently relegated
Blackburn Rovers in August 1999. The fee was £400,000 with potential add-ons of £100,000. He made his debut for Rovers on 6 November 1999 in the 2–2 league draw with
Ipswich Town – the first game after Kidd was sacked and long-serving coach
Tony Parkes put in charge – at
Ewood Park. His former Liverpool and Benfica manager Souness was appointed as Blackburn's manager on 15 March 2000.
Sheffield Wednesday 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; just like Blackburn when Harkness had joined them a year earlier, Wednesday had just been relegated from the Premier League. His Owls debut came on 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, and scored once against Birmingham City. ==Personal life==