A Merseyside derby fight and a Kamikaze flight – The highs and lows of Joe Harper at Everton FC

Joe Harper BY his own admission Joe Harper is 'not a greedy man.''As long as I get two holidays a year and all the bills are paid for I'm satisfied,' he admits.But the man who was once Everton's record signing has one regret.'My biggest regret in football, my only regret, is leaving Everton when I did,' he declared. 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.And it's clear who Harper holds responsible for his all too brief spell on Merseyside.'Harry Catterick signed me and he was a wonderful manager, a gentleman,' said Harper.Then Billy Bingham came in . . .'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.'If you asked me to sprint all day I'd do it but lifting weights wasn't good for me.'But I bit my tongue because I loved it.'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.'By the time he came back properly I was on my way back to Scotland.'

Source: Liverpool_Echo