Former Arsenal goalkeeper Lee Harper has appealed for the return of the jersey he wore for his only Gunners appearance after it was stolen by burglars, saying: “It was my pride and joy.”
Harper kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win against Southampton in March 1997 as FOURTH choice when David Seaman was injured, Vince Bartram was out on loan and John Lukic – who had answered Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's SOS for an encore at Highbury – suffered a badly bruised toe.
“I may not have played in the Premier League as often as I would have liked,” Harper told Mirror Sport. “But that orange shirt with 'Harper 26' on the back means the world to me.
“Ask 100 footballers which game they treasure the most and all 100 will give the same answer – it's always their debut. My jersey was signed by all the players in that squad, from Seaman to Adams, Berkgamp, Vieira, Wright and the boss himself. I must be the only player who turned down a two-year contract offer from Arsene Wenger when Arsenal were on the crest of a wave.
“They won the Double the following year, but I had joined QPR by then. I couldn't see myself getting the No.1 shirt off David Seaman any time soon, so I rejected Mr Wenger's kind offer and moved on in search of more game time. But I remember the pride of walking out at Highbury that afternoon, and keeping a clean sheet was a nice bonus. I like to think I played my part in that by making a point-blank save from Matt Le Tissier when the score was 0-0.”
Harper's treasured shirt was stolen in a raid on his property in Farnham Common, Bucks, last weekend. “They even ripped it out of the frame,” he said. “I've had the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) down here looking for fingerprints, but my best chance of getting that shirt back is word of mouth and social media. I've been overwhelmed by the response of former team-mates who have retweeted my appeal, and I haven't given up hope of getting it back, but at the moment hope is all I've got.”
Now 50, Harper runs a successful goalkeeping academy three nights a week with centres in Northampton and Milton Keynes, as well as a sideline in property development. He said: “We have managed to get more than 50 youngsters fixed up with clubs through the academy, and it's nice to put something back into the game after I managed to make more than 400 appearances at senior level. But with that shirt stolen, it feels like the launch-pad to my career is now missing. If anyone thinks they might have seen it, or know where it might be, I would be grateful to get it back.”
