Harry Redknapp's Biography

Who is Harry Redknapp?

He played midfield in the 1960s and 1970s for West Ham and Bournemouth, and briefly for Brentford and Seattle Sounders in the NASL.

In November 2008, Harry Redknapp told The Mirror:

"When I finished playing I didn't have a penny to my name.

"We could barely afford to pay the mortgage on a house that cost us £6,000 and my wife Sandra had to work as a mobile hairdresser, even though she was heavily pregnant with Jamie."

In the late 1970s, Harry Redknapp assisted Bobby Moore at Oxford City.

As well as playing for West Ham and Bournemouth, Harry Redknapp went on to manage both clubs (he also made an emergency appearance as a player for AFC Bournemouth in 1982/3).

At Bournemouth, Harry Redknapp got the team promoted from the old Third Division as champions in 1987. He also gave his son Jamie Redknapp, who went on to play for England, his league debut.

Harry Redknapp initially joined West Ham as assistant to Billy Bonds, but took over as manager in August 1994. He spent 7 years in charge of West Ham, before moving to Portsmouth.

Redknapp had two stints as Portsmouth manager, separated by a brief spell at their bitter rivals Southampton, which saw the Saints relegated.

In Redknapp's first stint at Portsmouth he got them promoted into the Premier League as First Division champions.

In his second spell at Pompey, he helped them avoid relegation and then took them to ninth in the Premiership in 2006/07.

The following year, Portsmouth, under Redknapp, finished eighth and won the FA Cup.

In October 2008, Harry Redknapp took over as Spurs manager, after they sacked Juande Ramos.

Spurs agreed a compensation package of £5m with Portsmouth, where Tony Adams took over the helm.

Harry Redknapp told The Independent that the "most relaxing thing for me is walking my dogs, two British bulldogs."

On 14 January 2009, the BBC reported that Harry Redknapp had been charged with two counts of tax evasion.

In the 2009/10 season Spurs under Harry Redknapp clinched fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League.

In November 2011, it was revealed that Harry Redknapp would face trial for alleged tax evasion when he was manager of Portsmouth Football Club.

On 8 February 2012, Harry Redknapp was cleared of tax evasion.

Around the same time, there was a great degree of press speculation that Redknapp would become the next England manager, however the F.A. ended up appointing Roy Hodgson.

On 13 June 2012, Spurs sacked Harry Redknapp. Spurs's chairman, Daniel Levy commented:

"This decision in no way detracts from the excellent work Harry has done during his time with the Club and I should like to thank him for his achievements and contribution. Harry will always be welcome at the Lane."

In August 2012, it was revealed that Harry Redknapp and Mick McCarthy would join the pool of pundits on Match of the Day.

On 24 November 2012, Harry Redknapp was appointed manager of QPR.

However, on 3 February 2015, Harry Redknapp resigned as QPR manager, citing imminent knee replacement surgery as the reason. At the time, QPR were second bottom of the Premier League with just 19 points from 23 matches.

In April 2017, Harry Redknapp was appointed manager of Birmingham City.

They won the last two matches of the 2016 / 17 season and avoided relegation, but Redknapp was sacked on 16 September 2017 after the Club had gained just 4 points from its first 8 matches.

In 2018, Harry Redknapp won I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

In 2021, he made a cameo appearance on EastEnders.