Where is Steve Harper now?
Newcastle United’s longest-serving player, Steve Harper finally hung up his gloves in 2016 at the age of 41, after a season as back-up keeper at North-East rivals Sunderland.
Although he was not always first-choice keeper during his time at St James Park due to the consistency of Shaka Hislop and then Shay Given, he still amassed over 150 league appearances during his 20-year career at the club before moving to Hull City where he spent a couple of seasons in the twilight of his playing days.
He finished his career having made 289 first-team appearances for eight different teams including six loan spells during his time on Tyneside.
A qualified referee, upon retiring from playing Harper spent time as a Premier League referee assessor before returning to Newcastle United to work within their academy as a goalkeeper coach for the 9 to 16-year-olds whilst studying for his coaching badges.
Impressing the management he was then promoted to lead academy goalkeeping coach for the under-18’s and under-23’s sides before reluctantly leaving in May 2019 because of the time commitments.
He made a return to the Magpies later that year as a first-team coach and link between the senior side and the academy whilst also working as a goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland national side in a dual-role with his club commitments.
In July 2021 he was appointed in his current post as the club’s permanent academy manager having spent a short time in the role on an interim basis.
Away from football Harper graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Masters of Sport Directorship (MSD) in July 2019 and occasionally works within the media as a pundit and analyst for the likes of BBC North East Look North and talkSPORT.
He also co-owns Oddballs which is an underwear company that aims to raise awareness of testicular cancer.
Back to Hull City / Newcastle United
Follow on Twitter @steveharper37
Steve Harper: Premier League Statistics
| Nationality | English |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Appearances | 135 |
| Clean Sheets | 24 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 |
| Premier League Teams Played for | Hull City, Newcastle United |
Statistics courtesy of www.premierleague.com
Last Updated on 19 July 2021 by Admin