Jamie Redknapp has explained why he felt “relief” when an injury forced him to retire from football.
The ex-midfielder started his career in 1989, and played for teams including Liverpool, where he remained for 11 years, Southampton andTottenham Hotspur, as well as England.
But throughout his time as a professional, he was often hit with knee injuries, which ultimately put an end to his footballing career when he was 31.
Redknapp, now 51, received the “heartbreaking” news he would never play professionally again after surgery in 2005.
“I cried my eyes out,” he revealed in a new interview, tellingThe Times: “Football was my life and retiring was the hardest thing I had ever had to take.”
However, he admitted that his sadness soon turned to a form of relief.
“When that died down, it was also a bit of a relief, because at that point I was only really playing for money. I wasn’t playing for love any more.”
While some of his footballing peers, including Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, became managers, Redknapp decided to avoid that route as he saw the stress faced by his father, Harry Redknapp.
Harry, who won ITV series I’m a Celebrity in 2018, enjoyed a hugely successful coaching career with Bournemouth, Portsmouth, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur. But Jamie said he would often see his father go through “unbelievable lows” when his teams lost.
He instead focused on punditry, scoring a gig at Sky Sports – and also as a captain on comedy panel show A League of Their Own.
Jamie attributes Sky Sports, where he’s worked for 20 years, with helping him come to terms with his retirement.
“It could have been so much harder,” he said. “You get this incredible adulation as a player, then all of a sudden it’s gone; there’s a new superstar and you’re forgotten. People really struggle, but luckily Sky filled that void really quickly.”
