Harry De Vlugt was born on May 27, 1947, in Bandung, in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He came to the Netherlands at an early age together with his parents. He grew up in Enschede in the Netherlands and joined local club Phenix. He then moved onto SC Enschede and Twente Enschede’s second team. After failing to break into Twente’s senior team he joined Glanerbrugse Voetbalvereniging Eilermark in 1967. GVV Eilermark was at the time one of the best clubs in Dutch amateur soccer.

Harry then moved to Canada to help his brother out in his shop in Ontario. The speedy right winger joined London German Canadians as a semi-professional player late in the 1969 season. With his help the club climbed to a mid-table finish in the final standings in the 1969 National Soccer League season. Harry finished in third place in the NSL leading goalscorers list.

After spending the winter playing in the Netherlands, Harry returned to the German Canadians for the 1970 National Soccer League season. On Sunday July 19 Harry scored two goals in a 5-1 win over Ottawa Sons of Italy in a National Soccer League game in London. Later in the 1970 season he was transferred to Toronto Croatia. He helped Croatia win the 1970 National Soccer League championship. After the 1970 season Harry returned to Europe and rejoined GVV Eilermark.

Harry joined Sportverein Meppen in 1971. He scored 18 league goals to help SV Meppen win the 1971-72 Amateurliga in Lower Saxony. In 1972 he moved from SV Meppen to Rot-Weiss Essen where he played together with Dutch intenational player Willi Lippens. Led by Lippens and De Vlugt’s eleven league goals RW Essen won the championship of the German Regionalliga West in the 1972-73 season and earned promotion to the Bundesliga.

Harry played in only five games in the 1974-75 Bundesliga season due to his struggles with injuries. In March 1975 Harry had to retire from professional soccer due to a knee injury. He later returned to Enschede and played amateur soccer with FC Flamingo.

Harry passed away on November 6, 2016, in Enschede in the Netherlands.