Harry Kewell: Barnet appoint former Liverpool and Leeds forward as head coach

Harry Kewell has previously only managed in League Two

Barnet have appointed former Liverpool and Leeds United forward Harry Kewell as their new head coach.

The 42-year-old, who was sacked as Oldham manager in March, teams up with Dean Brennan, who has been appointed as the club's new head of football.

Kewell, who has also been in charge of Crawley Town and Notts County, won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool.

He succeeds interim manager Simon Bassey and is the Bees' first permanent boss since Tim Flowers left in March.

"I am delighted to welcome two extremely talented people to The Hive London to spearhead a new era for the club," Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous told the National League club's website.

"I have full faith that we have a great set-up that will support the rebuild of the first team and take us forward into a successful 2021-22 campaign."

Kewell won 17 of 41 games in charge of Oldham from the start of last season until his sacking in March, while at Notts County he won just four of 14 games in a two-month spell from September 2018 - the Magpies went on to be relegated from League Two at the end of that season.

His first managerial role came in the summer of 2017 at Crawley, leading them to a 14th-placed finish in League Two in his one full season in charge before leaving for the Notts County job.

He joins a Barnet side that ended the season second-from-bottom of the National League with only eight wins from 42 games, with the club avoiding relegation after the National League North and South seasons were declared null and void because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Barnet is a fantastic football club but we need to get the club back on the right path and get going back in the right direction," Kewell said.

"The chairman and myself have put a really exciting backroom team together, with the view of a collective unit being the driving force behind a successful future for the football club."