Alan Harper (footballer)

Alan Harper (born 1 November 1960, in Liverpool) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League and Premier League for Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester City, Luton Town, Burnley and Cardiff City. Harper is best remembered for playing in the Championship winning Everton side of the mid-1980s.

Harper was a utility player whose first-choice position was right-back but he could perform competently in almost any position on the park and he frequently turned up in central defence, at left-back, centre midfield, wide midfield and sometimes even as a makeshift striker. Perhaps partially as a result of his great versatility however, he often found himself used as a squad player rather than as a first-team regular at many of the clubs he played for. He is remembered as a largely unspectacular but solid and reliable performer who very rarely made a mistake. Harper scored few goals but many of those he did score were spectacular efforts, often from long range. Everton fans nicknamed him 'Bertie Bassett' because he played in 'allsorts of positions'.