Harrison was a trainee with Southampton,[3] before joining John McGrath's Fourth Division side Port Vale in February 1980.[1] He was immediately the first choice keeper for the "Valiants", however, was troubled by cartilage problems from November 1980.[1] In the summer of 1981 he was loaned to rivalsStoke City as they played a youth tournament.[1] After returning to Vale Park he was an ever-present for the 46 game 1981–82 season.[1] He was sold to City, along with Mark Chamberlain, for a combined fee of £180,000 in August 1982.[1] He left Victoria Ground in 1984 due to long-term injury problems.
Upon his retirement, he returned to England. He became the youth coach of Bristol City, then goalkeeper coach of Everton, before becoming coach and assistant manager of Barrow, later player-manager of Stafford Rangers and then the reserve team coach and assistant manager of Oxford United. Harrison gained his UEFA A licence at the age of 33.
Harrison was appointed head coach of Chippa United in April 2013[5] but despite not losing a game, was unable to prevent the team from being relegated at the end of the 2012–13 season.[6] He resigned from his position after four games in 2013–14 season. He became head coach of Golden Arrows on 7 October 2013.[7] In January 2015 he was appointed head coach of Zimbabwean club CAPS United.[8] Harrison resigned on 16 June 2015.[9] On the same day, he was announced as the head coach of Botswana Premier League side Township Rollers. He led the Rollers to the league title in controversial circumstances 2015–16, as the Botswana Football Association deducted the club ten points for fielding an ineligible player before the ruling was overturned on appeal.[10] They also reached the final of the Mascom Top 8 Cup, where they lost 3–1 to Orapa United.[11]
Harrison left Township Rollers, after 18 months in charge, and decided that it was time to make the move to South Africa, bemoaning people in Botswana that "really make it hard to do things".[12] He subsequently became the new technical director at Baroka, his 11th different club in six years working in African football.[13][14] In July 2017, he joined the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League team Harare City as technical director.[15] Harare won the Cup of Zimbabwe in 2017 with a 3–1 victory over How Mine.[16] In 2018, he became the manager of the club and was joined by his son Ryan Harrison, who joined the club as a goalkeeper.[17] On 8 January 2020, he was appointed as head coach of Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League rivals Highlanders on a two-year contract.[18]
On 1 August 2021, Harrison was appointed as manager at Kenyan Premier League team Gor Mahia.[19] He attempted to instill an attacking style of play into the team.[20] However, he was sacked on 29 January 2022.[21] On 27 September 2022, Harrison was appointed as technical director at Super League of Malawi club Mighty Wanderers on a two-year contract; the club were 15 points behind league leaders Nyasa Big Bullets at the time of his appointment.[22] He quit the club following a third place finish to the 2023 Super League of Malawi season, reportedly with the intention of returning to England.[23]
Personal life
He dated broadcaster and television presenter Fiona Phillips in the 1980s.[24]
Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[25]