'Harry Kane sent a message for Kenny Jackett' - ex-Tottenham scout shares touching story about hero 'who grew up at Millwall'

Harry Kane sent a message to be read out at the funeral of the late Kenny Jackett after he passed away in June.

That is according to experienced former Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The 64-year-old managed the England captain for the second half of the 2011/12 season, where he began to thrive.

Kane scored nine goals in 27 appearances under Jackett, including a run of five goal contributions in six Championship games to end the campaign.

The Lions hoped to keep hold of Kane for the following season and likely should have, with the striker going on an unsuccessful loan to Norwich City instead.

The 32-year-old has re-affirmed his position as one of England's best ever players this summer at the World Cup, where he has scored six goals so far and led his team to a quarter-final clash with Norway on Saturday.

Touching Harry Kane story shared by ex-Spurs scout

Tributes poured in to celebrate the life and career of Jackett, who spent the entirety of his playing days with Watford, where he was born.

The former defender managed the Hornets for a year after his retirement, before moving on to Swansea City and later Millwall.

He would stay with the Lions for six years, taking them up from League One to the Championship in 2009.

After leaving in 2013, Jackett took over Wolves and later Rotherham, before spending four years in charge of Portsmouth.

There, his team lifted the EFL Trophy in 2019 before he left in 2021 and would take roles with Leyton Orient and Gillingham, with his final job ending in November 2024.

"Harry Kane had a loan period at Millwall," King told Football Insider. "You know the manager who brought him to Millwall then? It was Kenny Jackett.

"It was Kenny Jackett who brought him. And at the funeral, Harry had sent a message to be read out to say how grateful he was for Kenny Jackett having the belief in him. That's where he grew up, at Millwall."

What Kenny Jackett said about Harry Kane

Kane was just 18 when Jackett had him at Millwall - it would take him until the 2014-15 season to start playing regularly in the Premier League.

Once he did, he exploded, and he has never seemed to slow down in the decade since.

"It’s always difficult to know how a young player will turn out. But I have never seen a young player with a capacity to work like Harry," Jackett said in 2017.

"So in that way I am not surprised he has gone on to do what he has done.” He continued: "Harry had been a player we had tried to get previously. We’d watched him a number of times and we’d seen he was a very good technical player with a terrific touch who had always scored plenty of goals coming through the youth ranks.

“Good promising young centre-forwards are very hard to get hold off and so we were very pleased to sign him."