Harry Redknapp: “Sandra forgave me when I ran over her foot”

I remember my dad taking me to my first game at Millwall when I just six years old. I was so small I had to watch it standing on a wooden box. My dad was a huge Arsenal fan and I definitely got my love of football from him. My sons Mark and Jamie have always been football mad too. Jamie loved Luton Town as a kid and had posters all over his walls. Both of them would kick balls around the house and I can’t tell you how many of my wife Sandra’s ornaments got smashed.

Yes. In the West Ham youth team [aged 15] I was honoured to play with the great Bobby Moore. He was a brilliant footballer, but he was also
a very good friend and I miss him dearly. He’d have loved to have seen West Ham win the UEFA Europa Conference League [in June], although I like to think he was up there celebrating.

Not a chance. I can’t. I find it hard to say no to things – it drives Sandra mad. Recently, I’ve done Harry’s Heroes for ITV, managed in Soccer Aid and last year Jamie and I filmed Jamie & Harry’s World Cup Challenge [for Sky Max]. What a laugh that was.

People often ask us that and it’s a hard question to answer really. We both feel very lucky. We just enjoy each other’s company and there’s no one else I’d rather be with. Sandra’s my rock. Jamie’s always said I won the lottery when I met her, and he’s right. She even forgave me when I accidentally ran over her foot [in 2016], slicing it open like a piece of bacon. That was horrific, but she didn’t blame me once, though I’ll never forgive myself.

I first met her in The Two Puddings pub in Stratford in 1963 and I was definitely more keen on her than she was on me. She wasn’t interested in football and on our first night courting, I got so drunk, my mate had to drive her home. She wasn’t impressed, but luckily she forgave me.

Yes, I was almost killed in a car crash in 1990, we had a police raid at our home, then a tax trial – but they’ve only made us stronger. Just before I flew to Australia for I’m a Celebrity… in 2018, Sandra got sepsis. I was terrified I was going to lose her and I nearly didn’t get on the plane. But she wasn’t having it – she wanted me to go. I’ll never forget the moment she came into camp to see me. It was the first time she’d seen me cry. I’ve always known Sandra is a very special lady, but now, after the jungle, everyone else knows it too.

I’ve had a kidney cancer scare and a stent fitted into my heart, and Sandra’s had ovarian cancer and really suffered with her throat after damaging her vocal cords. In the book, Sandra also wrote about a miscarriage she’d had while 12 weeks pregnant, in 1969. She worked with her sister Pat in the local hairdresser’s in Barking and it was there she started to feel unwell.