Mark Harris (Welsh footballer)

Mark Thomas Harris (born 29 December 1998) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for Championship club Cardiff City. A versatile forward, he is able to play as a winger or as a striker.

Mark Harris
Harris pictured outside the Cardiff City Stadium in February 2018
Personal information
Full name Mark Thomas Harris[1]
Date of birth (1998-12-29) 29 December 1998[1]
Place of birth Swansea, Wales[1]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Forward; winger
Club information
Current team
 Cardiff City
Number 31
Youth career
2006–2017 Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017– Cardiff City 2 (0)
2018–2019 → Newport County (loan) 16 (2)
2019 → Port Vale (loan) 6 (0)
2019–2020 → Wrexham (loan) 24 (3)
National team‡
2014–2015 Wales U17 2 (1)
2016–2017 Wales U19 5 (1)
2017 Wales U20 3 (0)
2017–2019 Wales U21 17 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:49, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:20, 21 November 2019 (UTC)

He has represented Wales at under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level. He turned professional at Cardiff City in December 2016, and spent the 2018–19 season on loan at Newport County and Port Vale. He spent the first half of the 2019–20 season on loan at Wrexham.

Club career

Harris began his career at Cardiff City and was offered his first professional contract at the club in December 2016.[2] He made his first-team debut on 8 January 2017, coming on as a substitute for Greg Halford in a 2–1 defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup.[3][4] A series of illnesses and injuries throughout the Cardiff squad gave Harris the chance to make his Championship debut on 22 April, playing in a five-man midfield in a 0–0 draw at Wigan Athletic.[5] Speaking after the match, manager Neil Warnock said that "I thought he did okay but I felt sorry for him because we were so poor in that area".[6] He made one further appearance in the 2016–17 season, though did not feature in the "Bluebirds" 2017–18 promotion campaign.[7]

On 2 August 2018, Harris joined League Two side Newport County on an initial six-month loan deal.[8] He made his debut for the "Exiles" on 11 August, in a 1–0 victory over Crewe Alexandra at Rodney Parade.[9] He scored his first goal for the club seven days later, in a 1–1 draw at Exeter City.[10] After initially establishing himself in the first-team, Harris suffered a concussion while on international duty and was unable to regain his place on his return due to the form of fellow forwards Jamille Matt and Pádraig Amond.[11] He made a total of 20 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell, scoring three times, before returning to the Cardiff City Stadium in January 2019 despite Newport manager Mike Flynn's statement that he was confident of extending the loan deal.[12][11]

On 23 January 2019, he signed for struggling League Two side Port Vale on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.[13] He made three starts and three substitute appearances for the "Valiants" before being allowed to return to Cardiff early by manager John Askey after going five weeks without a first-team game.[14]

On 24 June 2019, Harris signed for National League club Wrexham on a season-long loan.[15] "Red Dragons" manager Bryan Hughes commented that "he'll fit in well to our system. He can play across front three and he is an exciting talent".[16] Harris scored his first goal in his second game for Wrexham, in their 2–2 draw at Boreham Wood on 6 August.[17] He then followed that up with goals in the next two games, in a 2–1 loss at Dover Athletic and then getting the only goal of the game against F.C. Halifax Town at the Racecourse Ground.[18][19] However he lost his first-team place under new manager Dean Keates and his loan was terminated early on 7 January.[20]

International career

Harris represented Wales at under-17 level, scoring the winning goal against Montenegro in Minsk to secure Wales a place in the Elite Round of qualification for the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[21] He went on to be called up to the under-19 team and on 12 November 2016 he scored Wales' second goal of a 3–2 victory over England, only to score an own goal two minutes later; despite the victory Wales failed to qualify for the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.[22] In May 2017, Rob Page named Harris in the Wales under-20 squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament.[23] After making his debut for the side in the tournament opener against Ivory Coast as a substitute in place of Tyler Roberts,[24] Harris was named in the starting line-up in Wales' remaining two group matches against France and Bahrain as Wales were eliminated in the group stage.[25][26] He made a total of two appearances for the under-17s, five appearances for the under-19s and three appearances for the under-20s.[27] Harris made his debut for the under-21 side on 1 September 2017, coming on as a substitute in place of Tyler Roberts in a 3–0 victory over Switzerland.[28]

Style of play

Harris is a versatile forward, able to play as a striker, winger, or behind the striker. Harris has said that "I don't mind playing up front in a two, my main strength I would say is running in behind and getting at defenders".[29] Newport County manager Mike Flynn stated that "he's a good finisher, makes intelligent runs, and is very quick".[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 January 2020
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cardiff City 2016–17[30] Championship 2010000030
2017–18[31] Championship 0000000000
2018–19[32] Premier League 0000000000
2019–20[33] Championship 0000000000
Cardiff City total 2010000030
Newport County (loan) 2018–19[32] League Two 16210003[lower-alpha 1]1203
Port Vale (loan) 2018–19[32] League Two 6000000060
Wrexham (loan) 2019–20[34] National League 24330001[lower-alpha 2]0283
Career total 485500041576
  1. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearances in FA Trophy

References
  1. Mark Harris at Soccerway
  2. Jack Vittles (1 December 2016). "This Wales Under-19 star is set to sign his first professional contract with Cardiff City". WalesOnline. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  3. "Cardiff City 1–2 Fulham". BBC Sport. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  4. "Mark Harris signs professional deal". Cardiff City Official Site. 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  5. "Wigan Athletic 0-0 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  6. Booth, Dominic (22 April 2017). "Neil Warnock gives his verdict on the Bluebirds rookies". walesonline. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  7. Mitchelmore, Ian (3 May 2017). "Ball boy to first team starter - Mark Harris' incredible season". walesonline. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  8. "Newport County AFC sign Mark Harris on loan". Newport County A.F.C. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  9. "Newport County 1–0 Crewe Alexandra". BBC Sport. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  10. "Exeter City 1–1 Newport County". BBC Sport. 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  11. Penman, Andrew (9 January 2019). "Newport County boss Michael Flynn on transfer targets and Mark Harris' return to Cardiff City". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  12. "Mike Flynn: Newport boss 'confident' on Harris, Pring & Bakinson loan extensions". BBC Sport. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. "Mark Harris: Port Vale sign striker on loan from Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. Baggaley, Michael (30 April 2019). "Cardiff City striker leaves Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  15. "Mark Harris: Wrexham sign Cardiff City forward on loan". BBC Sport. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  16. Baggaley, Michael (25 June 2019). "Former Port Vale striker joins fellow ex Valiants at National League hopefuls". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  17. "Boreham Wood 2-2 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  18. "Dover Athletic 2-1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  19. "Wrexham AFC 1 FC Halifax Town 0 - Harris stunner wins it for 10-man Dragons". Daily Post. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  20. Griffiths, Rob (7 January 2020). "On loan winger signs off from Wrexham AFC stint with classy message". northwales. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  21. "Under-17 - Montenegro-Wales". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  22. "Under-19 - England-Wales". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  23. "FAW / Wales squad announced for Toulon Tournament". www.faw.cymru. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  24. "Wales U20 2–2 Cote D'Ivoire". Foot Espoirs. Archived from the original on 2017-06-01. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  25. "Toulon Tournament: France U20 0-0 Wales U20". BBC Sport. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  26. "Toulon Tournament: Wales U20 1–0 Bahrain U20". BBC Sport. 2 June 2017.
  27. "Mark Harris - Forward - First Team - Newport County". www.newport-county.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  28. "Switzerland U21 0–3 Wales U21". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  29. Baggaley, Michael (23 January 2019). "Who is Mark Harris: All about Port Vale's new striker on loan from Cardiff City". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  30. "Games played by Mark Harris in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  31. "Games played by Mark Harris in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  32. "Games played by Mark Harris in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  33. "Games played by Mark Harris in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  34. Mark Harris at Soccerway
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