Leroy Rosenior

Leroy De Graft Rosenior MBE (born 24 August 1964) is a professional football coach and pundit. He is a former professional footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and West Ham United. Rosenior represented his birthplace England as a youth international, before formally switching to represent the Sierra Leone national football team.

Leroy Rosenior
Personal information
Full name Leroy De Graft Rosenior[1]
Date of birth (1964-08-24) 24 August 1964
Place of birth Balham, London, England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1985 Fulham 54 (15)
1985–1987 Queens Park Rangers 38 (8)
1987–1988 Fulham 34 (20)
1988–1992 West Ham United 53 (15)
1990–1991 → Fulham (loan) 11 (3)
1991–1992 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 3 (0)
1992–1994 Bristol City 51 (12)
Fleet Town
1996–1998 Gloucester City 28 (2)
Total 272 (75)
National team
England U16
England U21
1993 Sierra Leone 1 (0)
Teams managed
1996–1998 Gloucester City (player-manager)
2001–2002 Merthyr Tydfil
2002–2006 Torquay United
2006 Brentford
2007 Torquay United
2007 Sierra Leone
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Rosenior has managed clubs including Gloucester City, Merthyr Tydfil, Torquay United, Brentford and was assistant to Gary Peters at Shrewsbury Town.

His son, Liam, is a former professional footballer.

Playing career

Club career

Rosenior was a striker for most of his career although towards the end of his playing days at Gloucester City he also turned out at centre-back, even in goal in a match against Kingstonian. He started at Fulham, also playing for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Fleet Town.

International career

He played for England at Under-16 and Under-21 levels but later changed allegiance to represent the Sierra Leone national team.[2] In total he gained one cap for Sierra Leone, it came in the form of a 1994 African Nations Cup qualifying game versus Togo in Conakry on 9 January 1993.[3] Togo later withdrew from the competition.

Coaching and managerial career

After a period as Bristol City's youth team coach Rosenior's first managerial post was with Southern League Premier side Gloucester City. His first full season in charge saw Gloucester lose a third replay in the FA Trophy semi-final to Dagenham and Redbridge and defeat on the final day of the season to Salisbury City cost a place in the Football Conference, with local rivals Cheltenham Town being promoted. Rosenior left the following season, taking over Bristol City's reserve side.[4]

Rosenior returned to non-league, managing Merthyr Tydfil before moving to Torquay United from July 2002 to January 2006, when he left the club by mutual consent after a 3–1 home defeat to Rochdale. In his second season in charge he took Torquay to promotion to Football League One, but was unable to keep them there, experiencing relegation on the last day of the season. The return to Football League Two heralded the departure of Alex Russell and Adebayo Akinfenwa, two of the club's best players. After languishing near the bottom of the league for half the season, Leroy eventually left the club by mutual consent.[5]

In March 2006, he was named first team coach at Shrewsbury Town, acting as assistant to manager Gary Peters. He left in June 2006 to take up the managerial position at Brentford, succeeding Martin Allen.[6] 20 years earlier he had replaced Allen when he came on as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup final.[7] Five months after his appointment, Rosenior left the club,[8] after a run of 16 games without a win, which culminated in a 4–0 home defeat to Crewe Alexandra.[9]

He was scheduled to take charge of the Sierra Leone national side for a friendly against Leyton Orient in May 2007,[10] which they won 4–2.[11] It was announced in May 2007 that he would take charge of Sierra Leone in their upcoming African Nations Qualifiers.[12]

Rosenior returned to Torquay United as head coach on 17 May 2007, replacing Keith Curle,[13] but was reportedly sacked after 10 minutes, which gave him the record of the shortest managerial reign in the history of English football.[14] This was because at the same time Torquay were bought by a local consortium which installed Colin Lee as chief executive, who then appointed former Gulls player and Exeter City assistant manager Paul Buckle as manager.[15]

Honours

As player
  • 1982 Fulham F.C. Young Player of the Year
  • 1987 Fulham F.C. Player of the Year

As manager

Other professional interests

Rosenior works as a presenter and pundit on G-Sports, an African Pay-Per-View channel, and for the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Other punditry work has included BBC Radio 5 Live as well as The Football League Show and The League Cup Show on BBC television. He also appeared alongside fellow ex-pro Graeme Murty and presenter James Richardson in the BBC South, BBC South West and BBC West local Monday night football round-up show Late Kick Off.

Rosenior is a leading anti-racism campaigner in British football and travels the country working as an ambassador for the Show Racism The Red Card campaign. In 2018 he was awarded an MBE for his work in tackling discrimination in football and elsewhere in society.[16]

References
  1. "Leroy Rosenior". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  2. "Former Torquay Boss Rosenior to Coach at Welshpool". www.welshpremierleague.com. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  3. "Rosenior takes over Sierra Leone". BBC. 23 May 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  4. "Rosenior: return to the city could spur Tigers on to great things". Gloucestershire Echo. 31 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  5. "Boss Rosenior leaves Torquay job". BBC Sport. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  6. "Rosenior appointed as Manager". Brentford FC. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  7. "England – League Cup Finals 1961–2001". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  8. "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | LEROY'S CONTRACT TERMINATED". brentfordfc.co.uk. 19 November 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  9. "Rosenior sacked as Brentford boss". BBC Sport. 18 November 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  10. "Rosenior gets Sierra Leone chance". BBC Sport. 3 May 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  11. "Leyton Orient 2–4 Sierra Leone Pictures". Leyton Orient Official Site. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
  12. "CANQualifiers". www.2008.canqualifiers.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  13. "Rosenior makes return to Torquay". BBC Sport. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  14. "Carl Fletcher: Leyton Orient manager sacked after 29 days in charge of League Two club" - BBC Sport, 14 November 2019
  15. "Rosenior loses job in 10 minutes". BBC Sport. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  16. Frost, Sam. "New Year honour for ex-footballer and anti-racism campaigner". North Somerset Times. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
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