Crawley's Harry Kewell On His New Challenge

HARRY Kewell barks out a laugh when I ask if football has changed much since he arrived in the UK as a 16-year-old kid in 1995.

- Chris Dunlavy

“Just a bit, mate,” says the Aussie, who left his family behind in Sydney to forge a career that would eventually yield 274 Premier League appearances, 56 international caps and a Champions League crown with Liverpool.

“I made my debut for Leeds at 17. Back then, I think George Graham just sent us to the park in pre-season and told us to run. If you dropped out first, that was it – you got the sack!

“And look around you. We’re all walking around staring at smartphones. We’re all communicating with friends and family online. People speak to real, live people a lot less.

“In those days, it was only the really rich guys who had phones. I had to wait. For me, it was walking down to the telephone booth, throwing some money in and calling home that way.”

Kewell, now 38, reflects on his playing days with justifiable affection.

As one of David O’Leary’s vaunted ‘babies’, alongside Jonathan Woodgate and Alan Smith, Kewell won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2000 and a year later helped Leeds to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

European glory at Liverpool was followed by an FA Cup win in 2006, before successful spells in Turkey, Qatar and Australia.

Pegged

Few who watched Kewell ever questioned his talent: quick and powerful with a crackerjack left foot.

In 1999, Leeds reportedly rebuffed a £25m offer from Inter Milan for their young starlet. At the time, only one player – Christian Vieri – had cost more.

Yet fewer still had Kewell pegged as management material.

During four lacklustre years at Anfield, the winger’s attitude and fitness were regularly questioned.