He had a brief spell at Bristol City and then on loan to Wrexham, before moving to Tranmere Rovers in 1987; there he played 239 matches, scoring 19 goals, and became club captain.
Spells at Crewe Alexandra, Southport and Chester City (youth coach) followed, and he finished his playing career as player-manager at Morecambe.
[citation needed] After spending the pre-season coaching at Crewe Alexandra, in September 2006, Harvey replaced Gary Owers to become Forest Green Rovers' seventh manager in nine seasons.
In his second season as Forest Green boss he led the club to its highest ever league finish of 8th in the Conference National under his guidance.
He then led the club to the third round of the FA Cup in his third season at Forest Green where they narrowly lost 4–3 to Championship side Derby County.
[10] On 6 October 2009, Harvey was appointed manager of Chester City until the end of the 2009–10 season, where he had previously been part of the coaching staff in the mid-1990s.