Harry Kewell has previously managed Crawley Town and Notts County and was sacked as Oldham Athletic boss back in March; Barnet narrowly avoided relegation to the National League South in 2020/21
Thursday 10 June 2021 09:45, UK
Harry Kewell has been appointed as Barnet's new first-team head coach ahead of the 2021/22 season.
The Australian replaces Simon Bassey who left the position last week. Barnet finished second bottom in the National League this season but stayed up after relegation was scrapped.
Kewell, 42, was sacked by Oldham Athletic back in March. The former Leeds United and Liverpool winger won 11 of his 32 matches in charge at Boundary Park but just one victory in his last six saw the club slip to just 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Speaking upon his arrival at the Hive Stadium, Kewell said: "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.
"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.
"That starts with me as a head coach, but also with all of the staff, players and of course the supporters, we need to be a collective group with the ambition of bringing brighter days back to this incredible club. There's plenty of hard work to do to get us going in the right direction and I can't wait to get started!"
Barnet FC chairman, Tony Kleanthous, said: "I am delighted to welcome two extremely talented people to The Hive London to spearhead a new era for the Club. 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.
"There's plenty of hard work to do ahead of the new season and I look forward to seeing Harry and Dean, along with our existing backroom staff, get cracking with the task at hand. I am confident that with our recent appointments, there will be brighter days ahead for our supporters."
Along with Kewell, Dean Brennan has been named as Barnet's new head of football. The 40-year-old brings experience to the Bees having managed Hemel Hempstead Town to their first-ever promotion to the National League South, before guiding Wealdstone to The National League South title in his first season in charge.
Barnet narrowly avoided relegation to the National League South in 2020/21 as managers Peter Beadle and Tim Flowers failed to turn the club's form around before being relieved of their duties in December last year and March respectively.
