15 James Harper
Another vicitim of the recent cutbacks at Reading, light-hearted practical joker and gifted central midfielder James Harper looks set to leave at the end of the season. He is currently on loan at Sheffield United.
With a great range of passing and the workrate of a Duracell bunny on steroids James Harper created quite a partnership with Steve Sidwell in the Royals midfield. Both were Arsenal trainees who joined Reading looking for matches and both found great success at Reading where they helped Reading into the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history.
A memorable moment was his goal against Liverpool (at home in the League). Having burst onto a through ball and raced clear of Liverpool’s defence he feined to shoot and skipped past Reina to slide the ball into an empty net and make it 3-1 to Reading.
Harper was also a bit of a joker and his interviews rarely failed to amuse.
