An entertainer by nature, and a star performer during the club’s early days in the Football League, Harry ‘Jazzo’ Kirk played for Exeter City between 1922 and 1926. He joined the club from Plymouth Argyle and later played for Charlton Athletic. He also appeared for Bristol City, Bath City, New Brighton and South Shields.  

Nicknamed ‘Jazzo’  - because he often played the piano, gave recitations and performed sleight of hand tricks to entertain his fellow players - Harry had played for Sherwood Rovers and Worksop Town before getting a Football League opportunity when signing for Bristol City in 1919. After two seasons at Ashton Gate, where he netted seven goals in 17 league starts, he made the move to Plymouth Argyle for whom he made a solitary league appearance.

It was after he had scored for Argyle’s reserves against Exeter’s second-string on Boxing Day 1921, that the Grecians became interested in Harry. Making his City debut at Norwich City on 4 March 1922, he immediately fitted into the scheme of things and scored nine times in fourteen league games during the remainder of the season. 

Having possibly joined the Grecians on an early version of the loan transfer, Harry started the 1922/23 season back at Home Park before returning to Exeter on a permanent basis to feature in the eighth game of the season against Watford on 30 September. Subsequently repeating his earlier success, Harry netted eleven times in 29 league starts that season including all four in the 4-3 victory over Portsmouth on 3 March 1923. 

Scoring on eight occasions from 37 league appearances during the following season, Harry then bettered himself when he was City’s leading league goalscorer with a dozen goals in 1924/25 during which time he added an unusual footnote to his career as a Grecian.

This occured in March 1925 when he was part of the team that, after playing an away fixture at Norwich on the Saturday, immediately sailed from Harwich to play a friendly against Zwaluwen (the Swallows) in Amsterdam the following day. Facing a team made up partly of those Ajax players not featuring in an international against Belgium on the same day - and in a match staged at Het Houten, then home of Ajax - City won 5-1 thanks chiefly to a hat trick from Harry.     

Missing the middle part of the next campaign, he managed another five league goals before leaving St James’ Park at the end of the 1925/26 season. 

With forty-five league goals during his time with Exeter, Harry moved to Charlton Athletic (8 league appearances, 2 goals) before a spell with  Bath City ahead of return to the Football League with New Brighton and South Shields in the 1929/30 season. Back at Bath for a second stint, he was later appointed trainer at Gateshead.