The former Tottenham manager was strung along for five years before he discovered the truth
We can always count on one of Harry Redknapp’s tales to brighten up the day and help fight the self-isolation blues.
With the government telling us to work from home, stay inside and practise ‘social distancing’ – and with all sport on hiatus – due to the coronavirus, talkSPORT.com is ploughing through the archives to get you laughing.
And if there’s anyone guaranteed to make us chuckle, it’s our good friend ‘Arry.
There are loads of hilarious stories the former Tottenham and West Ham boss has told us on talkSPORT, but there’s one that stands out…
When he was conned by a bogus jockey – for FIVE YEARS!
At Cheltenham one year, Harry revealed how he’d been duped by a conman impersonating top jockey Lee Topliss.
Introduced to the ‘jockey’ by one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s best pals, ‘Topliss’ used his relationship with Redknapp to go to Spurs matches, get Gareth Bale’s shirt, and even borrow £500 from the unsuspecting manager.
So who was this mystery man? His name was actually Stevie, who worked in a pub in Newmarket, and he ended up with about £10,000 of Harry’s cash!
Listen to the incredible story in full from the man himself:
You’ve got to listen to Harry Redknapp’s story about being conned by a fraud jockey for FIVE YEARS
He explained to Sports Breakfast host Alan Brazil: “I was at a restaurant and Fergie’s best mate, a big gambler who loves a bet, was sitting there with this little guy. He waved me over and said, this is Lee Topless, the jockey.
“So I said hello… anyway, he turns up at Tottenham the next week wanting a ticket, so I get him in, he’s in the dressing room after getting Gareth Bale’s shirt, Modric’s shirt, getting all these shirts signed.
“For five years he told me he was Lee Topless the jockey and he’d call me saying, ‘Harry, have a few quid on this today’. And? Nothing!
“‘Harry, can you do me a favour? I’ve got to go out to Dubai to work for Godolphin and I’ve got no money, I’ve got my wages coming next week, can you lend me £500?’ Yeah sure, OK Lee.”
“He’s got me for five years!
“One day we’ve taken him out for dinner after football, he turned up against Chelsea and I got him into a box next to Roman Abramovich.
“Me, Kevin Bond, Joe Jordan and Clive Allen went for dinner with the little Lee and he’s ordering everything he can eat, drinking red wine like it’s water, and I said to him, ‘you’re riding tomorrow, Lee. Are you going to be alright?’
“Anyway, I believe everything!
“Eventually, I get a call from a mate of mine who told me, he wasn’t Lee Topliss, he works in a pub in Newmarket collecting glasses!”
You might think that was the end of the story, but, remarkably, it wasn’t.
Stevie later got in touch with Harry to apologise for leading him on for such a long time. We doubt he got his money back, though…
