'The most enjoyable time of my life': Ex-Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp's touching tribute to great friend Milan Mandaric

Harry Redknapp has thanked his great friend Milan Mandaric for the ‘the most enjoyable time of my life’.

The former Pompey owner passed away on Saturday in Belgrade at the age of 88, leaving the Fratton faithful to mourn the loss of a truly iconic figure.

His double act with manager Redknapp inspired the Blues to reach the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history, having captured the First Division title in a memorable 2002-03 campaign.

An often combustible relationship, they spectacularly fell out in November 2004 over Velimir Zajec becoming executive director, with Redknapp quitting for joining Southampton shortly afterwards.

However, the ex-West Ham boss returned 12 months later to conjure up the Great Escape to somehow secure Pompey’s Premier League status when they appeared doomed for relegation.

Redknapp: They were very special times

Mandaric sold Pompey to Sacha Gaydamak in September 2006 and the club would go on to register two top-10 finishes, claim the FA Cup in May 2008 and compete in Europe for the first time.

Yet for Redknapp, those early days alongside Mandaric were the most cherished times of his career.

He told The News: ‘They were amazing times, ups and downs. I probably had the most enjoyable time of my life with Milan.

‘Winning the league will always be the most special year of anything. People say to me about getting the FA Cup, but my favourite was winning the league that first full year, throwing a team together like we did and winning, winning, winning. Amazing.

‘I first met Milan in America when I was out there and was a young man still in his 30s who owned San Jose Earthquakes. He was a charismatic character, he loved football, he lived for the game, he adored Pompey and was great fun to be with.

‘I loved being with him, going for dinner and having a few glasses of wine. We would normally have an argument, but then make up the next day! It was a very special time for me.

‘The biggest falling out was when he wanted to bring in a director for football, despite all the success we’d had. He also had a problem about Jim (Smith), he wanted to move him on and I wasn’t going to let that happen because Jim was my right-hand man.

‘We fell out and that's when I left and made a bad mistake going to Southampton. Almost a year later, he spoke to Frank Lampard Snr, who had come to watch Chelsea play Pompey. Frank told him “Why don’t you get Harry back?”.

‘We met that night and made up. I went back again as manager and what an amazing run to stay up in the Premier League.

‘My favourite chairman in football’

‘Milan will always be my favourite chairman. To be fair, when he left, it was never quite the same for me. I didn’t have a connection with Sacha Gaydamak, there was no relationship there, not like with Milan. It was now different.

‘I looked forward every day to seeing him and he was at every game, he loved it. It was special.’

Redknapp had kept in touch with Mandaric, meeting up with the Serb when he visited London in June on a business trip designed to save Sheffield Wednesday.

Joined by their former Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie, the trio shared dinner and laughed over old times before Mandaric returned to his Belgrade home.

And Redknapp still chuckles when recollecting wonderful memories spent working alongside his former chairman during special Fratton Park times.

‘There’s Only One Milan’

He added: ‘I have never been at a football club before where the crowd would sing to the chairman. There’s only one Milan - he loved it.

‘This is a true story. Before one Fratton Park match when I was director of football, he said: “Harry, there’s a horse running today called Milan. Is it named after me? Is it one of the Pompey fans?

‘I replied: “It belongs to Coolmore, they own it, it’s a fantastic horse”. So he asked me to put £40 on at 6/4. When we came in at half-time, the horse had won, but I had forgotten all about the bet and hadn’t put it on, so I had to give him £100.

‘During the second half, the crowd started singing “There’s only one, Milan” and he nudged me and said “Harry, are you jealous? They are singing to me and not to you”.

‘I told him: “Don’t be so stupid Milan, they aren’t singing to you. They’ve all had a few quid on the horse!”.

‘Milan was over in London in June and we met up for dinner. He was in good form, we had a laugh, telling stories, a few glasses of wine. I’ll miss him.’

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