Henry "Harry" Archer (26 November 1932[1] – 24 June 2019[2]), also known by the nickname of "The Architect", was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached rugby league in the 1980s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Workington RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain (non-Test matches), and Cumberland, and at club level for Dearham ARLFC (in Dearham), Grasslot and Glasson Rangers ARLFC (in Grasslot, Maryport/Glasson, Maryport, now known as Glasson Rangers ARLFC), Workington Town and Whitehaven, as a stand-off and coached (jointly with Bill Smith)[3] at club level for Workington Town.[4][5]
Archer signed for Workington Town on 30 March 1953, the half-back pairing of Harry Archer and Sol Roper was initially made in the 29–15 victory over Dewsbury at Crown Flatt, Dewsbury on Saturday 24 September 1955, the following week they played together against New Zealand, the pairing lasted for more than a 10-years and over 300 matches, although not prolific try-scorers, they created hundreds of try-scoring opportunities for, e.g. Ray Glastonbury, Piet Pretorius and Ike Southward, Archer played his last match for Workington Town against Huddersfield on Saturday 19 November 1966, he was transferred from Workington Town to Whitehaven, he made seven appearances for Whitehaven before retiring.
