Jack Harper (footballer)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 February 1996[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Málaga, Spain[1] | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Linares | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2009 | Fuengirola Los Boliches | ||
| 2009–2015 | Real Madrid | ||
| 2015–2017 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Málaga B | 50 | (24) |
| 2018–2019 | Málaga | 26 | (4) |
| 2019–2023 | Getafe | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Alcorcón (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Cartagena (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Villarreal B (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2021–2022 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Hércules (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2023–2024 | Marbella | 23 | (5) |
| 2024–2025 | Linense | 32 | (9) |
| 2025– | Linares | 4 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2010–2012 | Scotland U15 | ||
| 2012 | Scotland U17 | 6 | (1) |
| 2014 | Scotland U19 | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 September 2025 | |||
Jack Harper (born 28 February 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Segunda Federación club Linares.[2] Born and raised in Spain, he represented his parents' birthplace Scotland at youth international levels.
Harper was born in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain,[1] to Scottish parents.[3][4] He speaks both English (with a Scottish accent) and Spanish.[5] He grew up in Fuengirola.[5]
His brothers Ryan and Mac were also footballers.[1] Ryan was born in Barrhead in Scotland before the family moved to Spain in the mid-1990s.[6]
Club career
Youth career
Harper played for Fuengirola Los Boliches between 2003 and 2009.[1] After trialling with Sevilla and Almería, Harper signed an initial 12-month contract with Real Madrid in 2009,[4] at the age of 13.[5] He moved to Madrid to live at the club's training ground, and attended private school.[5]
In December 2012, Harper signed a new five-year contract with Real Madrid.[7] In June 2014 he signed a further contract extension with the club.[8] At the age of 18, with two years left on his contract, he chose to leave Real Madrid after the club said they wanted to loan him out.[5]
He signed for English club Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2015.[9] He was injured for the first six months of his time with Brighton.[5]
Senior career
Málaga
Harper returned to Spain with Málaga in January 2017.[10] He spent the end of the 2016–17 season and all of 2017–18 with the Málaga B team,[11][12] helping them to achieve promotion to the third tier via the playoffs in the latter campaign[13] having lost out due to a last-minute goal in the final round the previous year.[14]
He made his first-team debut on 18 August 2018, starting in a 2–1 away win against CD Lugo in the Segunda División.[15] He scored his first professional goal on 3 September, netting the winner in a 1–0 away success over UD Almería.[16]
Getafe
Harper signed a pre-contract agreement with Getafe in February 2019 and completed the move in July.[17] On 10 August, he was loaned to second division side Alcorcón for one year.[18]
On 5 October 2020, transfer deadline day, Harper joined FC Cartagena, newly promoted to division two, on loan for one year.[19] On 1 February 2021, he moved to Villarreal CF B in the third division, also on loan.[20] On 6 July 2021, he was loaned out to the third-tier again, this time joining Racing de Santander.[21]
On 21 July 2022, Harper moved to Hércules CF also on a one-year loan deal.[22] In July of the following year, he left Getafe.[23]
Marbella
On 26 July 2023, Harper signed a one-year contract with Marbella FC in the Segunda Federación.[24]
Linense
On 17 July 2024, Harper joined Linense in the fourth-tier Segunda Federación.[25]
International career
Harper has elected to represent Scotland at international level, saying that "even though I live in Spain, I feel Scottish, so I want to make my family proud and play for my country."[4] He has stated his ambition to play for Scotland at the FIFA World Cup.[5][26][27]
He was called up by the under-15 squad in April 2010,[4] and by the under-16s in July 2011.[28] He made his under-17 national debut in August 2012.[29] He made a total of six appearances for the under-17s in 2012, scoring once.[30] He made his debut for the under-19s in August 2014, making three appearances for them that year.[31] He was dropped from the under-19s in March 2015.[32]
He was selected for the Scotland under-21 squad in March 2017,[12][33] but did not play.
Playing style
Harper has been compared to Robin van Persie.[34]
Honours
Atlético Malagueño