David Lee

The Youth Coach

Youth coach who nurtured Harry's talent at an early age

"Only two men made Harry Kewell - Harry and David Lee" is the view of leading youth coach Jeff Stanmore, a fair point considering the huge contribution of Lee towards Harry's vital early development.

"David Lee was a dry witted, sometimes cranky old man with a heart of gold and a great deal of love and affection for the players he was associated with," according to Mandic. "Harry was lucky to have someone like a David Lee."

"I first saw Harry when he was selected in the state primary school team when he was 11 going on 12," explained Lee. "I used to do a session every season once they'd picked the state primary school lads. I was taking a look at this lot and we were looking to start a development program in NSW.

"When I first met Harry I thought he was competitive, with a good approach to the game. At that stage it is not so much talent, but more their approach to the game. Harry always accepted things as they were, with a good attitude, very competitive, good left leg - you don't want more than that."

Three players from that crop of young players made the grade - Harry, Brett Emerton and Paul Reid.

"I worked with Harry three times a week for four years. We improved his basic technique. He only had a left foot, he had no volley or anything like that. We worked with Harry in the same way we worked with everybody. You start off working on their techniques, once that starts getting fairly good you start on their understanding of the game and what you could call skill. At first Harry's technique was pretty ordinary, his left foot wasn't bad, but the rest of his game was pretty ordinary. However he applied himself to everything we gave him and he picked things up quickly due to his concentration and drive to get to the top."

Lee recalled an occasion when Harry displayed his early confidence. After being asked if he had a Plan B if professional football didn't work out, Harry simple retorted, "I won't need a Plan B". He was 12.

"Harry never wanted to do anything else. His drive and ambition was to play for Liverpool when he was 11 and he never considered failure. I think that is a good thing. The Plan B blokes who are worried they're not going to make it often don't. I never doubted that Harry would make it."

So how would Harry rate David Lee in terms of importance in sculpting his career to date?

"I'm not sure Harry would say I'm the best coach he has ever worked with, but I tried to implemented discipline in him," says Lee. "If Harry played a bad game for me, I shot him off the park. I didn't say, 'Bad luck, Harry' and keep him on like a lot of people do. If you have a bad game no matter who you are, go off. 90 percent of coaches have this attitude that, 'He'll come good'". 

Clearly a hard task master and not a man who suffers fools kindly, Lee guided Harry's early career at it's most vital stage between 11 and 15. At this age, Harry was sent to England to play for Leeds and meet the man to prep him for life in the tough English Premier League...

 

Paul Hart

The Club Coach

Prepared Harry for life in the EPL
Despite working under the likes of Howard Wilkinson, George Graham, David O'Leary, Terry Venables and Peter Reid at Leeds, it is Paul Hart who Harry credits with his Leeds-based development. Hart was youth team coach of the Leeds team which won the FA Youth Cup in 1997 and formed the backbone for the Leeds senior team which progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001.

"Paul Hart is just as important as David Lee in terms of Harry's football development," according to Mandic.

"Harry was sent over when he was 15 in 1995 on the Big Brother scholarship," recalls Hart. "Prior to that I was contacted by David Lee in Sydney who wanted a connection with a club in England. He contacted us and we arranged to the deal that they would send two boys.

"They wanted a club that was developing players and we fitted the bill. The first players sent over for a month were Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton."

Hart was keen to secure the services of both future Socceroos, but due to Emerton being a true blue Australian and Harry having an English father, it was a split decision on who to take on. "We sent two boys back on the plane - one absolutely distraught and one really happy with the situation.

"Harry was probably how we [the English] perceive Australians to be - bright, slightly cocky, great athleticism and exuding confidence. What we got to find out was that he is a lovely lad, very honest and open, always had a smile on his face and a positive outlook."

Hart worked with Harry for the next two years in the youth set-up, before leaving to manage first the Nottingham Forest academy, then the first team, and a 17-year old Harry broke into the Leeds first-team.

"In my time with Harry I just offered a bit of guidance, that's all they need when it comes to a player of his quality. We show them the importance of the basis, which we do with everybody. We also gave him challenges, we played him at left-back a lot of the time and he scored 17 goals in one season from left-back. That was the year we won the FA Youth Cup and the league and we had a fantastic team. We gave him different challenges and he responded to them all very well.

"I'm not sure he always enjoyed playing at left-back, but it might have stood him in good stead later on. We knew he was never going to remain at left-back, he was a forward. We played him in different positions and once he moved into the seniors he took up his rightful position."

Lee says Harry just got better as time progressed, but as a person he never changed, he remained, "a happy fella, positive and a pleasure to work with".

"Harry has had a few injuries, but I still think he went on to be a fantastic player. He became the exciting player that me and my staff thought he would become," added Lee.

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