Player Profile

Kewell was on tour with the Australian soccer academy in England in 1995, when he was spotted by Howard Wilkinson who contacted Leeds. Three months later he played his first game in the Premiership for Leeds only 18 years of age. Kewell was voted Young Player of the Year in the Premier League in 1999/00 and was a prominent player for Leeds who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2000/01. Leeds suffered financial ruin and sold off their key players, including Kewell. He had always been a true Red and showed his allegiance by turning down more lucrative offers in financial terms to go to his beloved Liverpool. Kewell began his career at the Reds in promising fashion, playing 49 games in the 2003/04 season, scoring 11 goals. Nine of those goals came in the first half of the season which turned out to be his best spell for the club. Houllier left with Benítez taking over but injuries and subsequent loss of form hindered Kewell's progress at Liverpool. Benítez seemed puzzled by his injury problems. "One day Harry is okay, and the next he says he is unfit. We don't know exactly what the problem is. It changes each day. One day he says it's the groin, then it's ankle. Another day he says he can play." It wasn't until the latter half of the 2005/06 season that he seemed to approach his best form but that was only for a brief spell. Kewell was quite unlucky at Liverpool proved by the astounding fact that he was forced to be substituted in three successive finals; against Chelsea in the League Cup in 2005, Milan in Istanbul 2005 and West Ham in the FA Cup 2006!

Australia qualified for the first time since 1974 for the World Cup, in Germany 2006. Kewell hoped for an injury-free spell and played in the opening 3-1 win against Japan. He scored Australia's second goal in a 2-2 draw against Croatia and guaranteed his team a place in the last 16 where the Aussies faced the Italians. But once again he was out of action as he suffered from septic arthritis, a bacterial infection in his left foot. Australia lost 1-0 to Italy. Kewell's injuries kept him out for most of the 2006/07 season and the player that turned out in the 2007/08 season was just a pale imitation of the one that used to terrorise defenders with his skills. When Kewell's contract expired in July 2008 he departed Liverpool for Turkish champions Galatasaray where he signed a two-year contract. Twenty-two goals from 63 Süper Lig matches in three seasons in Turkey represented a decent goals-per-game ratio that Liverpool supporters never came remotely close to witnessing between 2003 and 2008. Kewell's agent, Bernie Mandic, delivered a damning verdict of Liverpool medical team. "Kewell lost three-and-a-half years of his career at Liverpool because the guys over there in England had, quite literally, no idea what they were talking about," said Mandic. "It was a disgrace the way Harry was treated." Kewell survived the South African World Cup without adding to his lengthy injury history but he was sent off for deliberate handball in Australia's group match with Ghana and with that went his "World Cup dream".

Kewell signed a three-year contract with A-League club Melbourne Victory in 2011 and declared: “I am proud to be Australian and want to give something back to the game. It has always been my ambition to play in my home country.” Kewell's first season playing in the country of his birth was successful in that he scored eight times for Melbourne in 25 league matches. Sadly Kewell was forced to return to England after one year in Australia because the mother of his wife, Sheree Murphy, was seriously ill. "It was one of the toughest decisions we've had to make," Kewell said in a statement. "I enjoyed playing for Victory and living in Melbourne, but family comes first and together we made a decision that it was best for us to remain close to our family at this time." On 12 July 2012, Harry Kewell was named Australia's greatest football player voted by Australian fans, players and media. Kewell had a short spell in 2013 at UAE Pro League club Al Gharafa where he played just three games. In June he signed for A-League club Melbourne Heart, returning to Melbourne but with a rival to his former club, Victory.

Towards the end of March 2013 Kewell announced that he would be retiring as a player after Melbourne Heart's match against the Western Sydney Wanderers in the middle of April.  After spending a year coaching with his academies in Australia and gaining his official badges, he returned to England in 2015 to coach Watford U-21s. After two years there he took over as manager at League Two Crawley Town, resigning from there on 31st August 2018 to take charge at Notts County. His spell there was a brief one, being dismissed in November with the Magpies just one place above the relegation zone. He was appointed manager of Oldham in August 2020 and dismissed the following March with then sixteenth in League Two. There was then a disastrous stint with National League Barnet at the start of 2021/22, picking up just two points from seven games before he was sacked. 

Kewell was on compatriot Ange Postecoglou's coaching staff at Celtic during the summer of 2022/23, remaining there for the start of the following season after the appointment of Brendan Rodgers. In December 2023 Kewell took over as head coach of Yokohoma Marinos and led them to the Asian Champions League final, where they were beaten by El Ain. Despite this achievement his contract was terminated in July 2024.