Jamie Redknapp has to be the most unfortunate Liverpool player of recent times. He was blessed with fabulous abilities but was struck down by serious long term injuries on a fairly regular basis. 19 operations during his career eventually forced his premature retirement at just thirty two years old.

Jamie was born in Hampshire, England in June 1973. He was born into a football family, his father is manager Harry Redknapp, his cousin is Frank Lampard and his uncle is Frank Lampard senior. Jamie started his football career as a youth team player at Tottenham Hotspur. He rejected the offer of a senior contract to sign with Bournemouth in 1989 when he was just sixteen. At the time Bournemouth were managed by his father, Harry, and they were in the old Second Division. At the end of the 1989/90 season they were relegated back to Division Three.

Jamie had played just thirteen times for Bournemouth when he attracted the attentions of Liverpool. In January 1991, Kenny Dalglish paid £350,000 to bring the seventeen year old Jamie to Anfield. This was to be Kenny’s final signing as Liverpool manager because he resigned just a few weeks later after the 4-4 draw with Everton in the FA Cup.

Jamie made his first team debut in October 1991 under new boss Graeme Souness. It came in the UEFA Cup game against Auxerre. He was the youngest Liverpool player ever to play in European competition as he was just eighteen years old. His league debut came in an away game with Southampton. He came on as a second half substitute for Jan Molby and scored Liverpool’s goal in a 1-1 draw. After this great start to his first team career at Liverpool, Jamie then entered into a transitional phase. He spent the majority of the next season on the fringe of the action as a substitute and playing mostly in the reserves.

During the 1993/94 season, Jamie became a first team regular, replacing Mark Walters in the centre of midfield. When Souness was sacked and replaced by Roy Evans, Jamie’s Liverpool career really took off. During the mid nineties he was one of the most important players in a terrific Liverpool side. He enjoyed a phenomenal partnership in midfield with John Barnes in the 1994/95 season which culminated with a victory in the League Cup Final against Bolton Wanderers.

Jamie’s main attributes were fabulous control of the ball combined with great stamina and determination. His eye for a pass was outstanding and he was a master of playing killer long passes. He was also adept at shooting from long range and scored some unbelievable goals. Two of the most crowd pleasing examples of his spectacular shooting are the last minute free kick against Blackburn Rovers in May 1995 and a thirty yard blockbuster against Spartak Vladikavkaz in September 1995.

In the mid nineties a group of Liverpool players became dubbed as the Spice Boys by the media. This was referring to the fact that Liverpool had a group of good looking young players who enjoyed a night out and hung out with celebrities. It is a derogatory term that was picked up by a large section of the media and unfortunately the team of the 1995 to 1997 era is often referred to with the name. However what the nickname doesn’t refer to is the fact that Liverpool played some of the best and most exciting football I’ve ever seen. The players linked with the nickname included Jamie, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman who were three of the finest players to grace English football in the last twenty years. One of the things that get brought up in jest is the cream suits that the team wore before the 1996 FA Cup Final against Man Utd. While nobody is denying the suits looked a bit silly, it is a shame that this image has been used to define at team criticised as having more style than substance. While it is true that Liverpool possibly under achieved during the Roy Evans era, we did come close to winning the Premier League and reached two cup finals, winning one.

Jamie is a handsome lad who dated, and later married, the pop star Louise. He was picked up by the media and focused on heavily for his looks and lifestyle rather than his football abilities. However unlike the image portrayed at this time Jamie and Louise are actually very down to earth people who don’t go out of their way to court publicity. I doubt that Harry Redknapp would be the kind of bloke to tolerate such behaviour either.

In 1995 Jamie made his England debut against Columbia at Wembley. This game is most memorable for the scorpion kick save from the outrageous Rene Higuita, after a cross from Jamie. Unfortunately Jamie was severely injured on three occasions playing for England. In the game against Scotland at Euro 96, Jamie came off the bench and turned the game with one of the best individual performances I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately he received a broken ankle in this game and entered the downward spiral of injuries that curtailed the remainder of his career. He also broke his leg playing for England against South Africa in 1997. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2007, Jamie commented on his injuries suffered while playing for England:

“I am convinced that playing for England cost me three years of my career. Three times I left on a stretcher during games for them, two broken ankles and a torn hamstring. And Liverpool were paying my wages. Fans would come up to me in the street and say: ‘This should be what matters to you, not England’. And they had a point. I loved playing for England, but it did make me question my loyalties.”

When he returned from the broken leg, Jamie played excellently alongside Paul Ince in the 1997/98 season. He was making up for lost time and things were going superbly until recurring knee trouble halted his momentum in early 1998. These injuries caused Jamie to miss out on the 1998 World Cup but England’s loss was Liverpool’s gain as he regained fitness on time for the 1998/99 season. Liverpool now had a new management regime in place with the experimental joint partnership between Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier. Once Evans was squeezed out of the club, Houllier took full control of the side and began slowly dismantling the side Roy Evans had built. During the summer of 1999, Ince acrimoniously exited the club to join Middlesborough. Jamie was given the club captaincy and began the 1999/2000 season in glorious form. Now entering the prime of his career, Jamie looked to have put his injuries behind him. Unfortunately he was injured again in the winter of 1999 and didn’t return until the last few weeks of the season.

The 2000/01 season was an incredible one for Liverpool as they won the glorious treble of League Cup, FA Cup and FA Cup. Unfortunately Jamie missed the entire campaign. He had knee surgery in America to try and curtail his injury problems and didn’t manage to play a single game during the season. After the FA Cup Final victory over Arsenal in 2001, vice captain’s Robbie Fowler and Sami Hyypia pushed Jamie forward and invited him to lift the trophy as club captain. This gesture showed just how highly Jamie was thought of by his team-mates and the Liverpool supporters.

He made a comeback during the 2001/02 pre-season tour in the Far East and received rapturous receptions from the supporters. He started the season and then got injured again. He fought his way back into the side and played a few more games before his Liverpool career was brought to an end after eleven years. In October 2001, Jamie scored in the 2-0 victory over Charlton Athletic and he never played for the club again. After plenty of speculation in the press Jamie joined Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer in April 2002, thirteen years after refusing a contract when he was a youth team player. Jamie left Liverpool with nothing but best wishes from the supporters and his popularity remained high.

Jamie spent two seasons at Spurs and then rejoined his father at Southampton in January 2005. Despite giving his all, Jamie struggled with his fitness and was unable to prevent Southampton from relegation at the end of the season. In June 2005 Jamie announced his retirement from his playing career due to too many successive injuries. He later revealed that the complications suffered in the broken ankle at Euro 96 were a major factor in the amount of injuries he went on to suffer for the remainder of his career.

Since his retirement Jamie has begun a successful broadcasting career with Sky Sports. He is also a team captain for the popular long running BBC series ‘A Question of Sport’. Jamie is working on obtaining his coaching badges and has been promised a place alongside his father at Portsmouth when he is ready. In September 2007 there was a rumour that then Chelsea manager Avram Grant had approached Jamie with regards to becoming his assistant.

Despite his Liverpool career being hampered by injuries, Jamie Redknapp remains one of the most popular players ever to play for the club. He was voted at number 40 in the series ‘100 Players Who Shook the Kop’.

Written by Ste Speed
Contact and read more articles by Ste Speed

(25 votes, average: 4.24 out of 5)  Loading ...

Email This Article  Print This Article

Related Articles Dynasty: The Graeme Souness Years (24 November 2008) Ex-Red Remembered: Roy Evans (7 October 2008) Ex-Reds Remembered: John Barnes (7 July 2008)

Tags: 1990s, jamie redknapp, roy evans