Harry Redknapp

Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He 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.

His son, Jamie Redknapp, played under him at Bournemouth and Southampton. He is also uncle to Frank Lampard, who played under him at West Ham United.

Early life

Redknapp was born in Poplar, London, the only child of Henry Joseph William Redknapp (1922–1996) and Violet May Brown (1924–2001).

At age eleven, while Redknapp was playing for East London Schools football, he was spotted by Dickie Walker, a Tottenham Hotspur scout. From there, Redknapp grew in the Tottenham youth ranks playing at Cheshunt, meeting the likes of Bill Nicholson, Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower. At age 15, Redknapp moved to West Ham United and played alongside Bobby Moore. In a 2008 interview, Redknapp stated as part of a tribute to Tom Finney, "I was a big Arsenal fan as a kid and I remember seeing him play against Tommy Docherty one night."

After being appointed Tottenham manager later in 2008, Redknapp stressed his Tottenham connections as well, stating:

I am a big follower of the history of the game and Tottenham have been a great club over the years. I followed Tottenham, I trained there as an 11-year-old, 12-year-old so I know the history of the club. It is a big, big club.

Club career

West Ham United

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.

Redknapp made his first start of the 1966–67 season, and scored his second goal for the club, on 3 December 1966 in a 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion. Redknapp made 12 League appearances scoring once during his second season. During the 1967–68 season, he made 28 League appearances and scored twice, the first in a 4–2 home win over Burnley on 21 August 1967 and the second in a 5–1 away win over Sunderland on 6 September 1967.

During the 1968–69 season, Redknapp made 42 appearances and scored three times, with 36 appearances coming in the league (along with two goals), three in the FA Cup appearances and three in the League Cup (along with one goal). His first league goal of the season came in a 4–0 win over West Brom on 31 August 1968, while the next came in a match in the League Cup against Bolton Wanderers, which West Ham won 4–0. Redknapp received a red card in a 2–0 away defeat at Leeds United on 12 October 1968. He had been booked for fouling Billy Bremner and was dismissed by the referee for dissent. His third goal of the season came in a 4–3 win over Queens Park Rangers on 2 November 1968.

Redknapp made his first appearance of the 1969–70 season on 9 August 1969 in a 1–0 home win over Newcastle United, while his first goal of the season came in a 3–0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday on 2 September 1969. Redknapp made 26 total appearances and scored one goal; 23 of his appearances came in the league.

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.

AFC Bournemouth

Redknapp joined Division 3 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.

Redknapp made 19 (all league) appearances during the 1974–75 season as Bournemouth were relegated to the Fourth Division. In 1975–76, he only managed nine appearances. At the end of the 1975–76 season, he moved to then Fourth Division side Brentford, where he made one appearance during the 1976–77 season.

Seattle Sounders

In 1976, Redknapp joined North American Soccer League (NASL) club Seattle Sounders as a player-coach. He made 15 appearances during the 1976 season as they reached the playoffs after finishing second in the Pacific Conference, Western Division, before losing to the Minnesota Kicks in the Division Championship. Before returning to Seattle, he appeared briefly for AP Leamington in the Southern League Premier Division. Redknapp then made five appearances during the 1977 season as they finished third in the Pacific Conference, Western Division, before losing out in Soccer Bowl '77 to Pelé's New York Cosmos, 2–1.

Redknapp went on to make three appearances in the 1978 season and just the one in the 1979 season, before joining up with old teammate and 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore.

In 1980, Redknapp was contracted to play with ASL expansion team the Phoenix Fire, but the team folded in pre-season.

International career

Redknapp represented England at youth level when he was 17. He was in the side that won the 1964 UEFA European Under-18 Championship after defeating Spain 4–0 in the final.

Management and coaching career

Seattle Sounders and Oxford City

Redknapp began his management career as player-assistant manager of NASL club Seattle Sounders from 1976 to 1979 under Jimmy Gabriel. During his time with Seattle, Redknapp made 24 appearances, helping the side to second place in the Pacific Conference, Western Division, in his first season as player-coach, and then to third place in the Pacific Conference, Western Division, for the 1977 season, taking them to the final of the Soccer Bowl, before losing to Pelé's New York Cosmos.

During the 1978 season, Redknapp helped Seattle to a third-place finish in the National Conference, Western Division, before they lost in the first round of the playoffs, again to the New York Cosmos. In his final year in Seattle, he helped them to another third-place finish in the National Conference, Western Division, but this time they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Redknapp then assisted his former West Ham teammate Bobby Moore at Isthmian League club Oxford City.

AFC Bournemouth

At the beginning of the 1982–83 season, Redknapp took up his first major coaching role as assistant manager to David Webb at Bournemouth, six years after leaving the club as a player. Redknapp applied for the manager's job when Webb moved to Torquay United partway through that season, but was overlooked in favour of Don Megson. Megson was sacked in late 1983 as Bournemouth were in the Third Division relegation places, and Redknapp was hired as his replacement in October 1983.

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.

After two years at this level, Bournemouth were relegated at the end of their third season. Bournemouth were in 13th position on 3 March, but injuries which depleted the squad, combined with a catastrophic loss of form, meant they won only one more match that season, and were relegated on 5 May after a 1–0 defeat at Dean Court against Leeds United.