Source: Liverpool_Echo
A Merseyside derby fight and a Kamikaze flight – The highs and lows of Joe Harper at Everton FC
Joe Harper [LNB]BY his own admission Joe Harper is 'not a greedy man.'[LNB]'As long as I get two holidays a year and all the bills are paid for I'm satisfied,' he admits.[LNB]But the man who was once Everton's record signing has one regret.[LNB]'My biggest regret in football, my only regret, is leaving Everton when I did,' he declared.[LNB] Harper, a relaxed and fit looking 62-year-old, was back at Goodison Park this week for only the second time since his Everton career ended.[LNB]And it's clear who Harper holds responsible for his all too brief spell on Merseyside.[LNB]'Harry Catterick signed me and he was a wonderful manager, a gentleman,' said Harper.[LNB]Then Billy Bingham came in . . .[LNB]'He brought in a programme of weight training and rather than tone us up he had us lifting heavy weights. I was bench pressing about 250 pounds. All that did was make me bigger and stronger, but my game was about speed and sharpness.[LNB]'If you asked me to sprint all day I'd do it but lifting weights wasn't good for me.[LNB]'But I bit my tongue because I loved it.[LNB]'When I came down it was supposed to be Big Joe and Little Joe. I was supposed to be playing with Joe Royle, and we were really getting on well, but then he injured his back and was out for about a year.[LNB]'By the time he came back properly I was on my way back to Scotland.'
