Harry Redknapp – författare

One of the most loved - and loving - father-and-son duos in the land, Harry and Jamie Redknapp are football royalty. Football runs through their veins. Both have enjoyed stellar careers on the pitch, in managerial dug-outs and in our television studios. But how did it all start, and what drove them on to be the football fanatics that they so passionately are today?A Family Obsession is the fascinating result of Harry and Jamie sitting round the kitchen table, where they discuss, debate, select and celebrate all aspects of the game that have inspired them. Who are the men who impacted their careers and fired that all-consuming passion for football? This is a deep dive into the matches, the players, the managers and the changes that have spanned their two generations. With amusing anecdotes, Harry and Jamie reveal the individuals who have set their pulses racing, opened their minds, enriched their football lives and stimulated their respective love affairs with the sport.From childhood idols to role models in young adulthood, from beloved team-mates to bitter rivals, from genius managers to the game''s great mavericks - from Pelé and Maradona to Bobby Moore and Lionel Messi via Steven Gerrad and Pep Guardiola - all are brought to life by two of the country''s most knowledgeable, animated and beloved football obsessives.

‘When a man walks on to a pitch there’s always a chance something magic can happen, that’s what keeps us coming back…’In A Man Walks On to a Pitch, Harry shares a lifetime’s experience of obsessing over football, during which he has seen it all first hand – the good, the bad and the unbelievable. Harry started in an age where players were ordinary blokes who might live on the same street as you and earn a similar wage and now manages in an era of player power, multi-million pound wages and teams assembledfrom around the globe.As he shares stories of some of the legends and journeymen he played with, coached, argued with and drank with, Harry picks a team for each decade from the 1950s to the present. He gets to the heart of what was right and wrong with each era and explores the changes in the game from lifestyle to tactics. He weaves his choices together with unforgettable tales from the training pitches, boot rooms and card schools.There are tales of the untutored genius of Duncan Edwards and Tom Finney, legendary tough Scots like Bobby Collins, Dave Mackay and Billy Bremner, the world beaters of 1966, unpredictable one-off wizards from Sir Stanley Matthews to Matt Le Tissier, natural-born goalscorers from Greaves to Dalglish and the greatest foreign players to grace our game from Trautmann to Bergkamp. It is one of the best informal histories of the British game you’ll ever read.

The Sunday Times no.1 bestselling memoir from Harry Redknapp‘From kicking a ball as a kid under the street lamps of Poplar and standing on Highbury''s North Bank with my dad, to my first game at West Ham, I was born head over heels in love with football. It saved me, and 50 years on that hasn''t changed one bit - I''d be lost without it…’Harry is the manager who has seen it all - from a dismal 70s Portakabin at Oxford City and training pitches with trees in the middle to the unbeatable highs of the Premiership, lifting the FA Cup and taking on Real Madrid in the Champions League. With his much loved, no-nonsense delivery, Harry brings us a story filled with passion and humour that takes you right inside every drama of his career.Harry finally tells the full story of all the controversial ups and downs - the pain and heartache of his court case, the England job, his love for Bobby Moore, his adventures at Portsmouth with Milan Mandaric, the Southampton debacle, Tottenham and Daniel Levy, and not forgetting his years at West Ham or the challenges at his current club QPR.It’s the epic journey of one of the great managers and, along the way, the story of the British game itself over the last five decades. In an era now dominated by foreign coaches Harry is the last of an old-fashioned breed of English football man - one who has managed to move with the times and always come out fighting.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The World According to Harry by Harry Redknapp, read by David John. ''While the beautiful game has taught me a lot, becoming King of the Jungle got me thinking … I’ve had quite a life outside of football too. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HARRY is my take on the important things ­– from what makes true team spirit and not forgetting your East End roots, to the joys of jam roly-poly and knowing how lucky I am to have met a girl like Sandra. I can’t claim to be clued up on showbiz, but I’m certainly not short of a story or two. I went from causing mayhem at school to the heights of the premiership to lying in a coffin with a load of rats on national television. Life has its high points and there are always rough patches, but I’m still loving every minute. These are my lessons, laughs and legendary tales from my time in football but also as an ordinary bloke who can’t even work a pressure washer properly.''