Jim Harvey

For the American football player, see Jim Harvey (American football).

Jim Harvey

Personal information
Full name	James Harvey
Date of birth	(1958-05-02) 2 May 1958
Place of birth	Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	FC Halifax Town (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1977	Glenavon	?	(?)
1977–1980	Arsenal	3	(0)
1980–1987	Hereford United	278	(38)
1987	Bristol City	3	(0)
1987	→ Wrexham (loan)	6	(0)
1987–1992	Tranmere Rovers	184	(18)
1992–1993	Crewe Alexandra	17	(0)
1993	Southport	7	(0)
1993–1994	Chester City	0	(0)
1994	Morecambe	4	(0)
Total		502	(57)
International career
1978	Northern Ireland U21	1	(0)
Managerial career
1994–2005	Morecambe
2006–2009	Forest Green Rovers
2009–2010	Chester City
2010–2013	Stalybridge Celtic
2015	FC Halifax Town(assistant)
2015	FC Halifax Town(caretaker)
2015-	FC Halifax Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

James "Jim" Harvey (born 2 May 1958) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. He is currently manager of FC Halifax Town.

Playing career

As a player, Harvey began his career at Glenavon in his hometown of Lurgan, before joining Arsenal in 1977. He made only three Football League appearances and one UEFA Cup appearance in three years, with his debut coming against Derby County on 9 May 1978.

Harvey moved to Hereford United in 1980, where he made 278 league appearances. He had a brief spell at Bristol City and then on loan to Wrexham, before moving to Tranmere Rovers in 1987; there he played 239 matches, scoring 19 goals, and became club captain. At Tranmere, he was the playmaker for a team who gained two promotions and won the Football League Trophy final in 1990.

Spells at Crewe Alexandra, Southport and Chester City (youth coach) followed, and he finished his playing career as player-manager at Morecambe.

Managerial career

Harvey joined Morecambe as player-manager in July 1994 and led them into the Football Conference in 1996. In 1998 he managed Morecambe to the Conference League Cup title, beating Woking in the Final. He also led Morecambe to second place in the Conference in 2003, before being defeated on a penalty shootout in the semi-final against Dagenham & Redbridge. He also served as assistant manager to long-time friend Sammy McIlroy when McIlroy was in charge of the Northern Ireland national team.

Harvey suffered a heart attack before a league match against Cambridge United in November 2005. Whilst Harvey was given time off to recuperate, McIlroy was installed as caretaker manager. McIlroy took Morecambe into the play-offs during Harvey's absence, and on Harvey's first day back after his illness in May 2006, he was sacked with McIlroy being installed as permanent manager in his place. Harvey's sacking from Morecambe has led to serious animosity between the two former friends and colleagues; they refused to shake hands when Harvey's Forest Green side met McIlroy's Morecambe at Christie Park in November 2006.

After spending the pre-season coaching at Crewe Alexandra, in September 2006, Harvey replaced Gary Owers to become Forest Green Rovers' seventh manager in nine seasons. He took over a team, bottom of the Conference with just 2 points from the first six games and led them to safety with a game to spare. In his second season as Forest Green boss he led the club to its highest ever league finish of 8th in the Conference National under his guidance. He then led the club to the third round of the FA Cup in his third season at Forest Green where they narrowly lost 4–3 to Championship side Derby County. In the same season he took Forest Green into the Conference League Cup Final following a 1–0 away win at Ebbsfleet United in the semi finals however Forest Green lost in the final to AFC Telford United 0–3 on penalties after the game finished goalless. He left the club in August 2009.

On 6 October 2009, Harvey was appointed manager of Chester City until the end of the 2009–10 season, where he had previously been part of the coaching staff in the mid-1990s. However Harvey resigned in January 2010 because of uncertainty regarding his future. On 12 February 2010 Harvey was appointed manager of Stalybridge Celtic in the Conference North. He left the club in October 2013.

On 1 June 2015, it was confirmed that he had joined League One side Oldham Athletic as part of the coaching staff. On 1 October 2015, Harvey was appointed as assistant manager to Darren Kelly at FC Halifax Town. On 22 December 2015, Harvey was appointed as manager of the club, following a spell as caretaker manager.

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches are included.

As of 26 December 2015

Team	Year	Record
		G	W	D	L	Win %
Morecambe	1994–05	547	257	123	167	46.98
Forest Green Rovers	2006–09	145	51	48	46	35.17
Chester	2009–10	14	3	2	9	21.43
Stalybridge Celtic	2010–13	117	49	24	44	41.88
FC Halifax Town*	2015–	6	4	2	0	66.67
Career total		829	364	199	266	43.91

• Had been caretaker since Darren Kelly's sacking on 17 November 2015