Biography
Colin Harris was born in Sanquhar on February 22nd 1961 and started his football career with Raith Rovers. Harris had been at Starks Park as a youngster and was signed again as an 18-year-old by manager Gordon Wallace, making his debut in 1980.
Dundee legend Wallace gave Harris his chance after selling Andy Harrow to Luton and he quickly set up a lethal partnership with Ian Ballantyne. Thirty-two goals for the First Division side soon brought to the attention of top flight clubs and in late February 1984 Dundee manager Archie Knox paid Raith £15,000 to take him to Dens.
Nicknamed ‘Bomber’ Harris made his debut against Rangers at Dens on February 25th and made a sensational start with a goal in the first minute with his first touch for his new club.
There was plenty of competition for places up front at Dens with Harris competing with Iain Ferguson, Ray Stephen, Walker McCall and Albert Kidd and by the end of the season had made 12 starts and five substitute appearances, scoring again against St Mirren at Dens in April.
A week after that goal against The Buddies, Harris started against Aberdeen at Tynecastle in the Scottish Cup semi-final but it was The Dons who progressed to Hampden with a 2-0 win.
Harris started again against the same opposition at Pittodrie in the first game of the 1984/85 season despite Archie Knox’s extensive rebuilding in the summer but it took a few weeks for the newcomers Carson, McCormack, Rafferty, Brown, McWilliams and Connor to find their feet.
When they did however, they did so spectacularly with a stunning 4-3 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice in which Bomber was one of the goal scoring heroes.
Without a league win to their name so far that season Dundee went into the derby on September 8th more in hope than in expectation but emerged in one of the finest derbies of all time as 4-3 winners.
Twice Dundee took the lead through McWilliams and McKinlay only for United to level before Harris had put Dundee 3-2 ahead. Colin headed on a corner which struck the post and entered the net via Eamonn Bannon but it was Bomber who took the credit and wheeled away to take the acclaim of the Dundee support behind the Arklay Street goal.
United however struck back again to make it 3-3 but it was another ‘Bomber’, midfielder John Brown who bulleted a header past Billy Thomson to give Dundee a famous win.
That derby win was undoubtedly Harris’ highlight of his time at Dundee and in February after just a year at Dens, transferred to Hibernian in exchange for Graham Harvey,
Signed by John Blackley, Harris picked up a League Cup runners-up medal after playing in the 3-0 defeat to Aberdeen in the 1985 Final and after two years Easter Road, Alex Miller allowed him to rejoin Raith.
Harris’ second spell in Fife was just as productive as his first, scoring an excellent 50 goals in 93 games but after falling out with Rovers boss Frank Connor, he joined Hamilton Academical in 1988.
Harris enjoyed a successful spell at Douglas Park and won back-to-back Scottish League Challenge Cups. In the first final against Ayr United at Fir Park on December 8th 1991, Bomber was the hero when he scored the only goal of the game and twelve months later was part of the side which lifted the B&Q Cup with a 3-2 win over Morton at Love Street.
In five years at Douglas Park Harris scored 41 goals in 159 games, one of which was in goal and he left Lanarkshire in 1993 to return to Fife, this time at Cowdenbeath.
After spells with Cowdenbeath, Clydebank, Meadowbank and Queen of the South, Colin hung up his boots in 1996 and after a spell coaching Raith Rovers’ U17s, now works as a contractor for Diageo.
