Harry Mooney

smithdown · September 8, 2011

A FOOTBALL scout who discovered legendary Liverpool FC players Roger Hunt, Jimmy Case and Howard Gayle has died.

Lifelong Reds fan Harry Mooney grew up in Everton Valley, one of four children, who his mum fed and clothed by selling vegetables from a barrow.

His dad abandoned the family when Harry was young but not before instilling in him a love of Liverpool FC.

In an interview with the ECHO last year, Harry said: “I was one of the first fans to stand on the Kop when it was opened in 1926.

“I say stand – I was taken on my dad’s shoulders and he told me there and then ‘this is where you belong son’.”

Harry kept a season ticket for the rest of his life and when his sight failed he listened to matches on the radio.

Great-grandfather Harry, who retired to Winsford, began giving tip-offs to the Reds through coach Tom Bush and Bill Shankly’s chief scout Geoff Twentyman in the 1960s.

As a referee in the Cheshire League, he saw a lot of footballing talent and was responsible for bringing World Cup winner Roger Hunt into the team from non-league Stockton Heath FC.

Harry’s son Kevin told the ECHO: “In the old days, you could just walk in to Anfield so Dad would go up to get his ticket on a Friday and then walk into Bill Shankly’s office.

“When I went with him, Bill Shankly would make me sit in a corner because I was a Manchester United fan.”

Harry trained as a riveter at Cammell Laird and later became a top safety consultant in the building industry.

In 1966, he was diagnosed with cancer but fought the illness which would eventually kill him, aged 91.

Kevin said: “Dad enjoyed life to the full.

“Although he lost interest in most things by the time he died, he always kept his interest in Liverpool Football Club.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/09/08/harry-mooney-the-liverpool-fc-scout-who-discovered-world-cup-winner-roger-hunt-dies-aged-91-100252-29383553/

Well played Harry lad.

Bigal · September 8, 2011

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