Harry Redknapp Biography

Harry Redknapp, born 2 March 1947 in Poplar, London, is an English former professional footballer and coach. His coaching experience includes spells at Southampton from 2004 to 2005 and Portsmouth FC from 2005 to 2008. He has also played for many English clubs during his career as a football player.

At the age of seventeen, Redknapp made his senior debut with English club

. He was brought up on football by his father, who always took him to Arsenal matches. Redknapp played 149 matches in the seven years he played for West Ham. After this, he went to AFC Bournemouth. There he played 101 games in four years. He returned to London in 1976 when he was sold to Brentford. It was here that he ended his playing career after three years.

Harry was coach of Tottenham Hotspur from autumn 2008 to 2012, taking the club to the Champions League and the chance to seriously challenge for the Premier League title. However in June 2012, Tottenham announced on their website that Redknapp and the club were parting ways, the reason being that they did not agree on a new contract and that the management was disappointed since Redknapp had lost a 12-point lead over arch-rivals Arsenal.

He took over QPR in November 2012 after Mark Hughes was fired for his poor performance, with no wins in 12 games and being bottom of the table.

All You Need to Know About Harry Redknapp Biography

His son Jamie Redknapp was also a professional footballer and made 17 international appearances for the English national team in the 1990s. He also happens to be the uncle of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

Harry Redknapp Information

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Harry Redknapp biography

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Harry Redknapp nationality

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Harry Redknapp Bio

• Full Name: Henry James Redknapp

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Coach

Harry Redknapp Physical Stats

• Weight: N/A

• Height: 1.80 m

• Eye Color: Green

• Hair Color: Light Brown

Harry Redknapp Football Information

• Position: Midfielder

• Jersey Number: 7

• Professional Debut: 1965

Harry Redknapp Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 2 March 1947

• Birth Place: Poplar, England

• Zodiac Sign: Pisces

• Nationality: English

Stay tuned to this section of

Harry Redknapp biography

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Harry Redknapp childhood

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Harry Redknapp Early Life

At the age of 11, Harry played football for the East London school team and was discovered by Dickie Walker, a Tottenham scout. He thus transferred to the Spurs youth team, which was based in the Chesent area. His performance was praised by Bill Nicholson, Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower.

By the time Harry turned 15, Arsenal and

became interested in him, with the latter's coach, Tommy Doherty, making a personal visit to the Redknapps' home. On the advice of his mother, however, Redknapp joined West Ham's academy. The team reached the FA Youth Cup final in 1963. "West Ham" lost in the first match to Liverpool 3-1, while after the first half of the return match they were losing 2-1.

But the young player was able to turn the tide of the game and score four goals. In doing so, Redknapp went on to win the first official tournament of his career. In two days, Harry won another trophy when West Ham beat Chelsea in the crucial match of the London Youth Cup.

Redknapp played for the

youth team at the 1964 European Championship and made it to the final, with England beating Spain 4-0. He was with the team at the 1965 International Youth Tournament in Augsburg and became the tournament's best player.

Stay tuned to this section of

Harry Redknapp biography

as we will share some information about his career at West Ham.

West Ham

Redknapp signed for West Ham's first team at the age of 18, with Ron Greenwood coaching the club. Redknapp played his professional debut for the team in the 1965/66 season. The coach began to put him on the squad due to injury problems with the main players. He was named in the opening minutes of West Ham's home game against Sunderland on 23 August 1965.

Redknapp assisted the team to level the score with a goal from a corner, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. Redknapp scored his first goal for Tottenham on 8 April 1966, with West Ham winning 4-1. In that season, West Ham made it to the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup, losing 5-2 to

. The young Redknapp did not feature in the European Cup campaign. Because after that and up to 1975 the club failed to rise above the eighth place, and he never got to play in European competitions.

In the debut season, Redknapp mostly appeared as a substitute, however, in the season 1966/67 he had more game practice. On 3 December 1966, in a game against

, he scored and helped the Hammers to win 3:0. Redknapp played 12 matches and scored one goal during his second season.

During the 1967/68 season, he started to play on the field even more often: he played 28 games and scored twice, against Burnley and Sunderland respectively. Furthermore, as Redknapp was from West London and a pupil of West Ham, he gained considerable respect from the club's fans.

Redknapp played 42 games in the 1968/69 season - 36 games in the league and three in the

and League Cup - scoring three goals in all competitions. Harry had an argument with the opposing captain, Billy Bremner, in an away match with Leeds United on 12 October 1968. He provoked Harry by hitting him in the shin with his boot spikes.

He was unable to control his emotions for which he received a second yellow card, resulting in a 2-0 defeat for his team. West Ham defeated Southampton 8-0 six days later, repeating the club record with Redknapp netting two goals in that game. In the match against Southampton on 26 December, he earned a penalty, which was successfully converted by Geoff Hurst, the game ended in a 2-2 draw. The team finished in eighth place that season, the best result in the league for Redknapp.

Harry played 26 and 22 games in the 1969/70 and 1970/71 seasons respectively. He played 35 games (22 in the league) during his final season at the club and assisted the team to reach the League Cup semi-finals, after which the player moved to Bournemouth. In total, he played 175 games and scored eight goals during his seven seasons with West Ham.

Bournemouth

Redknapp moved to Third Division club

in 1972, which was coached by former West Ham player, John Bond. The deal was worth £31,000. Bond wanted a player who could provide assists from the right flank to striker Ted McDougall. Yet less than two months after Redknapp arrived at the club, McDougall transferred to Manchester United.

He was replaced by former Everton player Jimmy Gabriel, a player who worked well with Redknapp. Besides this, the players enjoyed an off-field friendship. During the 1972/73 season, Redknapp made 37 appearances (34 in the league) scoring one goal, and Bournemouth finished seventh in the standings. Coach John Bond transferred to

at the end of the season and was keen to take Redknapp with him.

Initially, the player was offered a permanent contract, followed by a loan deal, but ultimately the transfer fell through due to the player's knee problems. The cause was the rough play of the defenders who were going after Redknapp personally.

The next season, club results declined with an 11th place finish and Bournemouth were relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1974/75 season. In the following season, Redknapp left the club, failing to help it return to the Third Division. In total, Redknapp spent four seasons with this team between 1972 and 1976.

Later career

Towards the end of the 1975/76 season, Redknapp joined Brentford, where he played one game for the whole of the following season. He was paid £60 a week, barely enough to fill up his Morris Marina car.

Redknapp signed for the North American Football League club Seattle Sounders in 1976. There, he was not only a full-time field player but also an assistant coach. During the 1976 season, he played 15 games, while his club made the playoffs from second place in the Western Division of the Pacific Conference. In the play-off semi-finals, the Sounders lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Kicks.

The same year, Redknapp made a brief return to England, playing for Leamington of the Southern Football League. He played his first match for the club against Maidstone United on 23 October. Because of injury, however, Redknapp played only four matches for the club in all tournaments.

Upon his return to Seattle, he played five matches throughout the 1977 season, where they reached the play-off final, in which they lost 2-1 to the New York Cosmos. The Sounders were joined in 1978 by Redknapp's former West Ham teammate, Bobby Moore. But Redknapp himself was barely playing at the time and left the club in 1979.

In 1980, Redknapp signed on to join the newly established club Phoenix Fire. It was assumed that Jim Gabriel would become head coach and Redknapp would be a player-assistant. But due to a management scam, the Phoenix Fire club went unfunded and was dissolved. He never made his debut for the new team. He returned to Bournemouth in 1982, for which he played two more matches before retiring.

Harry Redknapp Profile

Early in the 1982/83 season, Redknapp was made assistant coach to Bournemouth's David Webb. After Webb moved to

, Redknapp was considered for the head coaching job, but Don Megson was preferred to him. With Bournemouth in the relegation zone of the Third Division in late 1983, Megson was dismissed and in October 1983 Redknapp officially became the club's coach.

During his first season in charge of the club, Redknapp was instrumental in helping Bournemouth avoid relegation to the Fourth Division. Additionally, Bournemouth surprisingly defeated trophy winner Manchester United, 2-0, in the third round of the FA Cup. Bournemouth won the Third Division in 1987, with 97 points which broke the club record.

Early in the 1982/83 season, Redknapp was made assistant coach to Bournemouth's David Webb. After Webb moved to Torquay United, Redknapp was considered for the head coaching job, but Don Megson was preferred to him. With Bournemouth in the relegation zone of the Third Division in late 1983, Megson was dismissed and in October 1983 Redknapp officially became the club's coach.

During his first season in charge of the club, Redknapp was instrumental in helping Bournemouth avoid relegation to the Fourth Division. Additionally, Bournemouth surprisingly defeated trophy winner Manchester United, 2-0, in the third round of the FA Cup. Bournemouth won the Third Division in 1987, with 97 points which broke the club record.

Bournemouth played three years in the Second Division, however, in the third season, multiple player injuries coupled with a significant loss of form caused the club to perform poorly. Following a narrow defeat to

, Bournemouth returned to the Third Division.

Redknapp visited Italy in June 1990, watching the World Cup. While driving through Latina, south of Rome, Redknapp, alongside Michael Sinclair (president of York City), Fred Whitehouse (president of Aston Villa) and Brian Thieler (managing director of Bournemouth), had an accident.

Their minibus crashed with a car in which several Italian soldiers were travelling. The minibus rolled over onto its roof and was dragged along the road for another 50 metres. Thieler and four others died. Redknapp got doused in petrol and was unconscious. Sinclair managed to drag him away from the wrecked car. Redknapp sustained a fractured skull, a broken nose, cracked ribs and an injury to his left leg.

Emergency personnel who arrived at the scene of the accident thought he was dead and placed a blanket over his head. Redknapp was unconscious for two days and was taken home two weeks later on a special flight paid for by Bournemouth. After recovering almost completely, Redknapp ended up coaching Bournemouth again at the end of the 1991/92 season.

Stay tuned to this section of Harry Redknapp biography as we will share some information about his coaching career with West Ham.

West Ham

Redknapp became assistant coach to West Ham coach Billy Bonds the following season. The board decided to appoint him as head coach in August 1994, while Bonds was transferred to the club's administration. In the end, Bonds finally left the team.

Several months before signing with the Hammers, Redknapp was considering a move to

, who were left without a coach after Ian Brenfoot left, although Alan Ball took the vacant spot. Redknapp was instrumental in helping West Ham gain a foothold in the Premier League and introduced several young players from the youth teams, notably Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.

Stuart Pearce, Paolo Di Canio and Trevor Sinclair have all found good form under Redknapp. However, he also had mistakes in the transfer market, most notably with internationals: the purchases of Marco Boughers, Florin Raduchoiu and Paulo Futre failed to bring the club success.

In 1998, West Ham finished eighth and in the following season, they finished fifth (the second-highest division result in the team's history), which qualified the club for the Intertoto Cup. During the 1999/2000 season, West Ham won the Intertoto Cup and then qualified for the UEFA Cup. But the previous season's success in the league was not repeated, and the club took 15th place. Redknapp departed West Ham on 9 May 2001, a week before the end of the 2000/01 season.

Portsmouth

Redknapp became Portsmouth's sporting director in 2001. In the autumn, when Leicester City was without a coach following the dismissal of Peter Taylor, BBC News considered Redknapp a prime candidate to coach the club, but he stayed on at

. Following Portsmouth's poor results in March 2002, Redknapp succeeded Graham Ricks as a coach. He was able to win the First Division in the 2002/03 season and took the club to the Premier League.

Redknapp assisted Portsmouth to stay in the Premier League in the 2003/04 season, however, he had a conflict with the club's owner Milan Mandaric. Mandaric sought to sack assistant coach Jim Smith, and Redknapp did not approve of the appointment of Velimir Zajec as sporting director. Together with Smith, Redknapp handed in his resignation in November 2004, although he stated that his decision was not due to the actions of Mandaric and other club officials.

Stay tuned to this section of Harry Redknapp biography as we will share some information about his coaching career at Southampton.

Southampton

Within weeks of leaving Portsmouth, Redknapp was appointed coach of Southampton. The transition was very painfully received by Portsmouth fans, as the two clubs were bitter rivals. Several fans even wore T-shirts calling Redknapp a "bastard" and a "Judas" and wished to "burn in hell".

Ultimately, Redknapp was unable to keep Southampton in the Premier League and for the first time in 27 years, his new club left the top division. Redknapp continued at the club for the 2005/06 season but was not able to secure a return to the Premier League. He was also dissatisfied with the invitation of a former rugby player, Sir Clive Woodward, to become a member of the club's coaching staff.

After the departure of Alain Perrin from Portsmouth, Redknapp was offered repeatedly to return there, and finally parted ways with Southampton in early December 2005. At the same time, Southampton president Rupert Law quoted Redknapp as saying that Portsmouth was his "spiritual home".

Return to Portsmouth

On 7 December 2005, Redknapp came back to Portsmouth when the club, while not directly in the relegation zone, were nevertheless facing the real prospect of relegation to the Championship. Initially, it seemed that Redknapp would again be unsuccessful in keeping his club in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, with increased funding (Israeli businessman Alexander Gaidamak became one of the club's owners) his team's results improved towards the end of the season, which ensured that Portsmouth would retain their place in the Premier League. In the following season, Redknapp took Portsmouth to ninth place in the league, which was the highest in the club's history since 1950. Redknapp signed a new four-year contract with Portsmouth in October 2007.

Redknapp emerged as one of the candidates to coach the England national team in 2007 after Steve McClaren was sacked. But his chances of leading the national team were greatly reduced by a corruption scandal, resulting in the appointment of Fabio Capello as England coach. It was reported in January 2008 that Redknapp had been offered the vacant Newcastle United coaching post in the wake of Sam Allardyce's dismissal. He rejected the offer, stating, "I have a mission to move this club forward, and to leave would be wrong."

Portsmouth defeated Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals on 8 March 2008. Portsmouth followed this up with a semi-final win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium on 5 April. In the final on 17 May, Portsmouth narrowly defeated Cardiff City thanks to a goal from Nwankwo Kanu to win their first FA Cup in 69 years under Redknapp.

Stay tuned to this section of Harry Redknapp biography as we will share some information about his Spurs career.

Tottenham Hotspur

After Juande Ramos was sacked, Tottenham declared in October 2008 that Harry Redknapp will take over as coach. Tottenham paid Portsmouth £5 million as compensation for the coach's departure. Spurs had only two points in the first eight games of the season before Redknapp's arrival and were at the bottom of the standings. 

However, in his first two weeks at this club, the new coach lifted the club out of the relegation zone and in the following games picked up 10 points from a possible 12, defeating

and Manchester City and drawing 4-4 in the derby with

.

During the second half of the season, Spurs slowly climbed up the standings after a disappointing start to the season. Redknapp led Tottenham to the League Cup final in March 2009, in which the club lost on penalties to Manchester United. Tottenham eventually finished in eighth place with 51 points and missed out on the Europa League.

His first full season with the club (2009/10) was Redknapp's most successful season with Spurs during his time in the Premier League. Having started with four consecutive wins, the team ended in fourth place with 70 points and thereby secured the qualification for the Champions League through the play-offs. Consequently, Redknapp was named Premier League Coach of the Year - at the time, he was only the second winner of the award (after George Burley) whose club did not win the championship.

Tottenham reached the group stage of the Champions League on 25 August 2010, defeating Switzerland's Young Boys 4-0 at White Hart Lane (6-3 on aggregate),[79] and then won their group by one point ahead of Inter Milan[80]. In the Round of 16, Redknapp's side beat another Italian side, AC Milan, thanks to Peter Crouch's only goal.

Tottenham only lost in the quarter-finals to Real Madrid by an aggregate score of 5-0. In the league, Spurs finished the 2010/11 season in the fifth position with 62 points. While this was not enough to secure a second consecutive Champions League appearance, Redknapp's side did qualify for the Europa League.

Redknapp received an offer to manage the England national team in February 2012, but turned it down, claiming that it would be difficult for him to work for both the national team and the club at the same time. A couple of weeks later, Roy Hodgson took over as national team coach.

While Tottenham finished in fourth place again for the second time in three years (the club failed to qualify for the Champions League only to be replaced by Chelsea as tournament winners), Redknapp was fired on 13 June 2012 as the parties were unable to agree on the terms of a new contract.

Queens Park Rangers

Redknapp returned to the bench for

on 24 November 2012. They were at the bottom of the table and had not won a single game in 12 matches. While the Hoops improved their record under Redknapp with 21 points in 25 games, as compared to just four in the first 13 matches, with remarkable results such as a 1-0 win over Chelsea, in the end, it was not enough to avoid relegation, confirmed with three games to go.

Despite the relegation, Tony Fernandes confirmed that Redknapp would continue in the 2013-14 season. Redknapp's side finished fourth in the Championship and qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they were victorious after eliminating Wigan Athletic and Derby County, and was promoted to the Premier League.

Redknapp announced his resignation as manager of Queens Park Rangers on 3 February 2015 because he was due to undergo knee surgery which would prevent him from carrying out his duties. After 23 matches in the 2014-15 Premier League, the veteran English manager left the Loftus Road bench with 19 points and in 19th place in the standings.

A year off and the Jordan national team

Redknapp returned to football in January 2016 as director of Wimborne Town. He was named sports advisor to Derby County in March 2016 until the end of the 2015/16 season. He was also named coach of the Jordan national team for two World Cup qualifying matches and joined his former assistant Kevin Bond. Redknapp made his first appearance as Jordan's coach on 24 March, resulting in an 8-0 win over Bangladesh. In the following match, they lost 5-1 to Australia.

On 29 April 2016, it was announced that Redknapp will join Australia's Central Coast Mariners as a football consultant. It was reported in the Uzbekistani media in mid-May of the same year that Harry Redknapp was about to start working on the coaching staff of the Uzbekistan national team as an advisor to head coach Samvel Babayan.

Birmingham City

Harry Redknapp was named as head coach of English Championship side Birmingham City on 18 April 2017. The team was in 20th place in the standings at the time of the appointment. His first game at the helm of the club ended in a defeat to bitter rivals Aston Villa. Redknapp's side beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the last two games of the season before winning 1-0 against Bristol City to avoid relegation.

In May 2017, Redknapp signed a one-year deal, intending to continue as coach of the Birmingham club for another season. Once again, Kevin Bond became Redknapp's assistant, succeeding Steve Cotterill. David Stockdale, Mark Roberts and Cheick Ndoye were Redknapp's first purchases.

Birmingham City terminated the coach's contract on 16 September 2017 after six consecutive defeats that left the team second from bottom.

Style of Play

In the opinion of ESPN columnist J. Molineux-Carter, Redknapp's greatest strength is his ability to find the right players for the club on a budget, while he is also praised for his team-building skills. His disadvantage is that he can at times be too blatant about his players and his clubs often fail to perform well in crucial games. Generally, Redknapp prefers a 4-4-2 system, he likes traditional English flank play and favours speedy counter-attacks over a willingness on the flanks to defend.

Reception

Harry Redknapp is regarded as one of the best football coaches of his generation and one that if he had the chance to manage one of the stronger teams of England, he could’ve achieved much more during his career.

Harry Redknapp outside Football

Harry Redknapp is also active in the building construction business and he and his wife own the construction company Pierfront Developments in England.

Harry Redknapp Personal Life

In this section of Harry Redknapp biography, we will take a look into his personal life, sharing some information about things like

Harry Redknapp religion

and

Harry Redknapp life story

.

Family, Children, and Relationships

Redknapp was born in the London borough of Poplar as an only child of Henry Redknapp and Violet Brown. The father worked in a shipyard and his mother in a confectionery factory. In addition, Mrs Redknapp worked part-time as an office cleaner in the mornings. While his parents were at work, Harry would visit his grandmother, Maggie Brown, after school.

To her grandson, she instilled a passion for horse racing and card games. For his part, Harry picked up his interest in football from his father. His favourite boy's childhood club was London's Arsenal and he frequently visited the Canaries' matches, especially he was fond of Jimmy Bloomfield's game.

On 30 June 1968, Redknapp married Sandra Harris, an 18-year-old hairdresser from Essex, having previously dated for four years. They have two sons, Jamie (a former footballer) and Mark (a model). Jamie debuted under his father at Bournemouth in 1990, before playing for Liverpool and Tottenham and eventually moving to Southampton, where he finished his career in 2005. His grandson from his son Mark, who is also called Harry Redknapp, joined Bournemouth in May 2014.

Philanthropy

Both Redknapp and his wife have been major contributors to Southampton-based charity Leukaemia Busters. In 2004 they took over as head of the organisation, replacing former cricketer David Gower and his wife Torunn.

Legal Issues

Redknapp was arrested by London police on 28 November 2007 for alleged conspiracy to file false financial reports, others including Portsmouth managing director Peter Storrie, former club president Milan Mandaric, agent Willie Mackay and footballer Amdi Faye were also arrested along with him. Redknapp was later released without charge, along with others. Redknapp then announced his intention to sue the police for unlawful arrest.

Harry Redknapp Career Statistics

In this section of Harry Redknapp biography, we will take a look into the player’s career on the international and club level. Stay tuned.

Club

During his playing career, Redknapp has played a total of 316 matches and scored 14 goals for many different English clubs.

Managerial

Harry Redknapp has a win ratio of 40.22 percent with 561 wins, 345 draws and 489 defeats in a total of 1395 matches he has coached as of September 2017.

Harry Redknapp Honors

Of his notable titles as a manager, we can include UEFA Intertoto Cup, Football League First Division and FA Cup. He was also named Premier League Manager of the Season in the 2009/10 season.

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