Logo
Posted by Paul Grimwood on Oct, 23 2022

Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp is an English former football manager and player and a well-known media personality.

Harry has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his second spell at Portsmouth, he managed the side that won the 2008 FA Cup. At the conclusion of the 2009–10 season, he guided Tottenham into the UEFA Champions League. Redknapp announced his retirement from football management in 2017.

Playing Career

During his playing career, Redknapp played as a midfielder. He began his career with Tottenham Hotspur, playing for the youth team until he was 15 years old, when he moved to West Ham United. He first broke into the first team at West Ham in the 1965–66 season, making seven appearances and scoring one goal. He made his debut for West Ham in a 1–1 draw at home to Sunderland on 23 August 1965. His first goal came in a 4–1 away win over Tottenham on 8 April 1966.

During the 1970–71 season, Redknapp made 21 league appearances with one more coming in the League Cup. He then made a further 35 appearances during the 1971–72 season with 22 of them coming in the league. This would be his last season at the club before he moved to AFC Bournemouth for the 1972–73 season. He made 175 total appearances in both league and cup action for West Ham, scoring eight times over seven seasons.

Harry Redknapp joined Division 3 AFC Bournemouth in 1972 from West Ham. He spent four seasons with the south coast side between 1972 and 1976.

In the 1972–73 season, Redknapp made 37 appearances with 34 of them coming in the league scoring once in the league and Bournemouth finished seventh in the league. He made a further 46 appearances scoring five times during the 1973–74 season with 39 appearances in the league.

Managerial Career

At the beginning of the 1982–83 season, Harry Redknapp took up his first major coaching role as assistant manager to David Webb at AFC Bournemouth, six years after leaving the club as a player.

In his first season at the helm, Redknapp helped Bournemouth avoid relegation to the Fourth Division. Bournemouth also caused a shock in the FA Cup when they defeated holders Manchester United 2–0 in the third round. He led Bournemouth to victory in the inaugural Associate Members' Cup by beating Hull City in the final. Bournemouth won the Third Division title in 1987 with 97 points, breaking the club's record for the most points accumulated in a season.

Redknapp helped to establish West Ham in the FA Premier League and introduced a number of young players from the club's academy, including Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard. The signings of Stuart Pearce, Paolo Di Canio and Trevor Sinclair helped them re-establish their careers having been signed by Redknapp. He also made mistakes in the transfer market, particularly with overseas players, including Marco Boogers, Florin Raducioiu and Paulo Futre.

Redknapp became director of football for Portsmouth in 2001, and when the Leicester City manager's job became vacant with the dismissal of Peter Taylor that autumn, Redknapp was widely tipped to take over at the East Midlands club, but stayed loyal to Pompey, with the Leicester job going to Dave Bassett.

Other Work

Harry Redknapp wrote for the online gambling company, Betfair, as its "Euro 2012 columnist".

In 1998 Harry Redknapp published his autobiography, Harry Redknapp: My Autobiography. It was co-written with Derek McGovern. His second autobiography, Always Managing, was published in 2013. 

Redknapp was a contestant in the 2018 series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He subsequently won the show, and was crowned 'King of the Jungle'.[