Three weeks ago footballer Kian Harratt had the world at his feet – he had just scored the winning goal in extra time at Wembley to earn Oldham Athletic promotion back to the football league.
But following MainOnline’s explosive revelation that Harratt was the yob at the centre of a shameful brawl and threw a chair, injuring an innocent woman trying to separate the fighting groups, his future has never looked more uncertain.
When the video started going viral on social media earlier this week Harratt – who is understood to have been celebrating his promotion with a group of childhood friends – initially appeared to laugh off the controversy, resharing it on his own channels.
Oldham – who he only signed for in March – has so far made no comment about the video.
But facing mounting pressure on Thursday the player broke his silence on the fracas, claiming he was ‘very apologetic and ‘felt terrible’ and that he ‘accidentally hit’ the lady before bizarrely slipping in a football cliche when he accused the woman of going ‘down a bit easy’.
Despite his young age, this is not the first controversial incident involving the talented footballer.
Harratt scored the winning goal to earn Oldham Athletic promotion back to the football league
Harratt is understood to have been celebrating his promotion with a group of childhood friends
Harratt was the yob at the centre of a shameful brawl and threw a chair at an innocent woman
Born into a traveller family in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, Harratt wowed scouts with his intelligence and strength from an early age prompting both Barnsley and Leeds United to give him opportunities in their academy before he signed as an academy scholar at Huddersfield Town in 2018.
He made his professional debut the following year and spent several successful spells out on loan but by 2022 he was making headlines for the wrong reasons when he was convicted of hare coursing at a farm in East Yorkshire.
The cruel sport involving dogs – usually greyhounds, lurchers or salukis – chasing and attempting to kill hares while participants bet on the outcome has been illegal since 2005.
Beverley Magistrates Court fined him £830, plus £233 costs and Huddersfield also issued him with ‘a significant fine’ as well as ‘extensive educational and community work’.
In a statement the club said: ‘In our extensive discussions with him, it has been made abundantly clear to Kian that he must now seize the opportunity to rebuild his reputation and to make amends for this unacceptable situation.’
He appears to have taken the warning seriously and gave up his hunting dog
‘Took me a while to realise but getting out of it now’, he told pals on Facebook.
‘It’s not a long career… need to make as much as I can.’
Footage initially emerged of the quarrel over the weekend without Harratt being identified
One women suddenly dropped to the floor after being walloped by a plastic chair by the striker
Harratt later shared a video on TikTok of his friend allegedly being punched by a ‘6’6 bully’
This is not the first controversial incident involving the very young but talented footballer
But the following season Harratt was banned from football for four months while still at Huddersfield after placing 484 bets on matches over a three-year period.
That came with a £3,200 fine and 36 of the bets were on Huddersfield games – though he insisted he was not in the matchday squad for any of them.
A second criminal conviction followed in 2024 while on loan at Fleetwood Town when he was fined £1,000 by police after he was caught poaching in North Yorkshire.
Police were called just before midnight on February 6 to investigate a vehicle being driven suspiciously around Whashton, near Richmond.
A short while later Harratt, from Pontefract, and Daniel Luke Dimmock, 34, from Castleford were found carrying large black lamps, and with lurcher-type dogs on slip leads, police said. The men were searched, and their lamps and vehicle seized.
They were found guilty of entering land as a trespasser at night with poaching equipment at Harrogate Magistrates Court on December 19 and fined £1,153 each, and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds more in costs and surcharges, according to police.
In January – the month after his conviction – Huddersfield agreed to make his loan at Fleetwood Town permanent. In March he dropped into the National League, signing for Oldham where his heroics helped them seal promotion.
The criminal convictions – both of which saw him in the dock alongside accomplices from outside football – have gained him a harmful reputation at other clubs.
A Football League scout MailOnline: ‘As a footballer, Kian has got all the talent to succeed. But as a person, he’s a little bit off his head.
The 23-year-old English striker signed as an academy scholar at Huddersfield Town in 2018
He made his professional debut in 2019 and spent several successful spells out on loan
Oldham – who he only signed for in March – has so far made no comment about the video
‘He’s the product of his environment, his friendship group and obviously he doesn’t see it.
‘He’s definitely seen as someone who’s not fully concentrated on being the best footballer he can be.
‘It’s a shame and I know for a fact that managers and coaches at teams he has played for have found him extremely frustrating.
‘He’s got ability but he’s got no focus.
‘Kian’s a football league player, any day of the week, if you look at ability alone.
‘So you’ve got to ask yourself – why is it that he’s ended up in non-league football?
‘He should never have been in the National League with the ability that he’s got.
‘When he’s at it, he’s a handful to play against. But there are too many time when he’s not at it because he’s distracted.’
