Where Are They Now?

[FourLaneBlue]

A few years ago I started a topic (here - So just where are all the ex-Rovers? - which I have now closed as it was getting a bit unwieldy at almost 20 pages) about where all the ex-Rovers had got to since their days at Ewood. This led to a large list which was contributed to by many other members of this board. I´ve not bothered to update it for quite some time (though others stepped in to help with the updating a while back) so here is a new list. If you know the whereabouts of any other old Roverites especially if they are at another club then let me know...

Known current clubs of former Rovers players or staff:

Accrington Stanley - Leam Richardson.

AEK Athens - Giorgos Donis (Manager)

AIK Solna - Nils-Eric Johansson.

Altona Magic (Malta) - Ryan Baldacchino

Ankaragücü (Turkey) – Kaba Diawara

Aston Villa - Brad Friedel

Ayr United - Paul Weaver.

AZ Alkmaar - Toni Kolehmainen

Ballymena - Garth Scates.

Barnoldswick Town - Michael Holt.

Bayer Leverkusen - Vratislav Gresko.

AC Bellinzona (Switzerland) - Corrado Grabbi

Birmingham City - Damien Johnson, Martin Taylor, Lee Carsley, Marcus Bent

Blackpool - Ben Burgess, Marlon Broomes, Tony Parkes (Assistant Manager), Simon Grayson (Manager).

Blyth Spartans - Graham Fenton (player- assistant manager).

Bolton Wanderers - Kevin Davies.

Bournemouth - Gareth Stewart, Jimmy Quinn (manager)

Bradford City - Peter Thorne.

Brescia Calcio FC: Dario Marcolin (Coach and also occasional Italian TV commentator)

Burnley - Alan Mahon.

Cardiff City - Jay Bothroyd

Cercle Brugge - Dwight Willie.

Cheltenham Town - Alan Wright (non-contract terms)

Chesterfield - Lee Richardson (Manager), Scott Sellars (Assistant Manager)

Clitheroe FC - Joel Byrom, Clark Walsh.

Crystal Palace - Shefki Kuqi, Neil Danns.

Coventry City - David Mcnamee, Chris Coleman (manager)

Derby County - Jay McEveley, Andy Todd, Alan Fettis (Assistant goalkeeping coach), Robbie Savage.

Derry City - Eddie McCallion.

Doncaster Rovers - Gordon Greer.

Dynamo Dresden – Sebastian Pelzer

Elgin City FC - Kieron Renton, Adam Nelson.

Everton - Mick Rathbone.

Exeter City - Andy Marriott.

Fleetwood Town – Jerome Watt

Forest Green - Ryan Robinson.

Fulham - Billy McKinlay (Reserve Team Coach), Roy Hodgson (Manager)

Galatasaray -Hakan Sukur (rumoured to be leaving this summer), Shabani Nonda

Galway United - John Fitzgerald, Jeff Kenna (manager)

Glenavon – Ciaran Donnelly

Glentoran - Gary Hamilton.

Harrogate Town -Darren Dunning.

Hednesford Town – Mark Patterson (Assistant Manager), Phil Starbuck (manager)

Hamburger SV - Mamadi Keita

IK Start (Norway) - Stig Inge Bjornebye (Manager)

Inverness Calendonian Thistle - Ian Black.

Ipswich Town - Alex Bruce, Jon Walters, Jon Stead (on loan from Sheff U with view to permanent move)

Kidderminster Harriers - Luke Jones.

Kilmarnock - Alan Morgan

Lancaster City - Wayne Gill (physio).

Leeds United - Jonathon Douglas, Dominic Matteo

Lisburn Distillery - Peter McCann.

Livingston - Raffaele De Vita

Lyn FC (Oslo) - Henning Berg (Manager).

Malmo FF - Anders Andersson.

Manchester City - Mark Hughes (manager), Mark Bowen (assistant), Eddie Niedzwiecki (coach), Glyn Hodges (reserves

Manchester United - Eric Steele (Goalkeeping Coach)

Middlesbrough – Steve Agnew (reserve team coach)

MK Dons – Jemal Johnson

Montrose - Stuart Cumming, David Worrell.

Morecambe - Steve Drench.

Newcastle United - Damien Duff, Shay Given

Northwich Victoria - Keith Barker

Nottingham Forest - Andy Cole, Joe Garner

Östersunds FK – Lee Makel (player-coach)

Partick Thistle – Gary Harkins

Port Vale - Marc Richards.

Portadown – Jon Topley.

Preston North End - Callum Davidson, Brett Ormerod, Rob Kelly (Assistant Manager) Alan Irvine (manager). Also…John Curtis – unattached but having a trial with PNE.

QPR - Tim Flowers (Assistant Manager)

Rangers - Barry Ferguson, Christian Dailly.

Recreativo Huelva - Florent Sinama-Pongolle.

Rochdale - Keith Hill (Manager).

Sheffield Wednesday - Franny Jeffers.

Sheffield United - Keith Gillespie (signing new deal), James Beattie

Shrewsury - graham Coughlan

Sligo Town - Gavin Peers.

Sporting Fingol - Robbie Doyle

Stabæk - Lars Bohinen (Sporting Director)

Stuttgart VfB - Markus Babbel (Assistant Coach).

Sunderland - Dwight Yorke.

Tombolo (Italian 3rd division) - Dino Baggio

Toronto FC - Paul Dickov

Tottenham Hotspur - David Bentley

Tranmere Rovers - Andy Taylor.

Troon Juniors - Andy Reid.

TuS Koblenz (Germany) – David Yelldell

Valarenga (Norway) – Martin Andresen (player-head coach)

Viking - Egil Østenstad (Director of football).

Wales National Team - Dean Saunders (Assistant Manager).

Watford - Richard Lee.

West Ham United - Lucas Neill, Craig Bellamy.

Wolverhampton Wanderers- Jay Bothroyd, Micheal Gray, Bobby Mimms (Goalkeeping Coach).

Workington AFC - Gari Rowntree, Viv Busby (Assistant Manager).

Wrexham - Richard Hope, Tony Williams.

Xerez CD - Jorge Yordi.

Zurich FC – Oumar Konde

Edited September 3, 2008 by FourLaneBlue

[FourLaneBlue]

Here is some info about former Rovers not actually with a club at the moment. Thanks for info from many sources including rovergroo for these details...

Back at the club after playing:-

Kevin Gallagher (working as for Radio Rovers),

Deceased:- (Rest In Peace)

Ray Harford, Jack Walker

Released/Unattached:-

Mark Atkins, Ciaran Donnelly, John Filan, Craig Hignett, Matt Jansen (training with Carlisle United), Peter Murphy, Andy Morrison, Fred Murray, Mike Newell, Sebastian Pelzer, Adam Reed, Paul Warhurst, Jimmy Quinn (released as manager of Cambridge United June 2008), Eyal Berkovic (formerly manager of Maccabi Netanya), Andy Cole, Ian Pearce, Craig Barr (recently released by Gretna), Brian Kidd (left Sheff Utd along with Bryan Robson), Burton O'Brien (released after three years with Sheffield Wednesday), Ciarán Ryan, Derek Fazackerley (released by Man City)

Retired and now taking coaching license or working as football pundits or agents:-

Per Frandsen (football agent), Tony Gale (soccer pundit with Sky Sports), Matty Holmes (qualified soccer coach & owns soccer coaching club), Graeme Le Saux (football pundit & ambassador for ABN Amro Bank), Jason McAteer (undertaking coaching badge), Kevin Moran (football pundit for Irish TV), Alan Shearer (football pundit), Robbie Slater (football pundit in Australia), Hakan Ünsal (Football pundit in Turkey), Graeme Souness (football pundit), Frank Stapleton (football pundit), Javier De Pedro (undertaking traing course...dismissed from last club by coach due to ¨"lack of commitment!"), Alan Kelly (the goalkeeper coach for the Soccer-Academy camps, located in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania)

Retired and in another field:-

David Batty (appeared in 'The Match and is involved with advertising campaigns for Cancer Research), Nathan Blake (runs property management company), Martin Dahlin (partner in introducing a new line of Men's wear for Heab Clothing firm), Garry Flitcroft ((running a magazine based for professional footballers), David May (working in wine distribution), Alan Miller (retired and runs his own cruise company with his brother in Mallorca), Stuart Ripley (graduated with a degree in Law at University of Central Lancashire), Tim Sherwood (in partnership with Garry Flitcroft), Craig Short (co-owns a sailing club), Ashley Ward (runs a luxury development company in Cheshire), Michael Holt (Police Officer), Mark Atkins (working on a building site in Sheffield?)

Retired and never heard of since:-

Patrik Andersson, Youri Djorkaeff, Nicky Marker, Darren Peacock (retired and living in Portugal with his family), Per Pedersen, Sebastien Perez, Chris Sutton, Patrick Valéry, Terry Gennoe (retired as Newcastle goalkeeping coach due to a back injury), David Thompson, Gary Croft (just finished a one year contract with Lincoln...now to retire?)

Edited July 7, 2008 by FourLaneBlue

[Mr. E]

Wow, I didn't know Flitcroft and Thompson were retired already. They can't be more than 35.

Still feel sorry for Matty, but good to see him still trying somewhere.

[FourLaneBlue]

Some interesting points...

1. For those of you interested in GrabbiWatch...he was last seen in Switzerland playing for Bellinzona in the Swiss second division. After six games our hero had managed zero goals in the league but apparently did score a winner in a cup game. So well done to him for that.

2. There are quite a large number of ex-Rovers as managers now. Giorgios Donis, Simon Grayson, Lee Richardson at Chesterfield, Chris Coleman, Roy Hodgson, Jeff Kenna (at Galway!), Phil Starbuck (was on loan for a few games at Ewood), Bjornebye, Berg, Alan Irvine, Keith Hill...could any of these do a job for Rovers? Probably not...Donis or Grayson would probably be the only ones worth considering at all although the likes of Irvine and Hill have impressed so far. Coleman seems to be going backwards in his career and Berg seems way too inexperienced so far.

3. Some of our players are some pretty big European clubs...Vratislav Gresko is with Bayer Leverkusen, Shabani Nonda and Hakan Sukur (for the moment) are at Galatasaray, Florent Sinama-Pongolle is with Recreative Hueva - a small team but in La Liga - and...er...Alan Mahon is at Burnley.

[Mc Love]

I think I saw Alan Miller on some place in the sun program before just when him and his bro were setting up their company. It still amazes me the great Frank Stapleton played with rovers though. Not many people know that

[Jan]

Gary Croft has retired as well. At least that is his current plan.

[FourLaneBlue]

Our Academy has alas been producing players for the lower leagues and non-league. Players we expected big things of such as Jemal Johnson (MK Dons) and ANdy Taylor (Tranmere) and outside the top two divisions.

More worrying still...the place of two former England schoolboy interntaionals...Ciaran Donnelly is now at Glenavon in Northern Ireland and Keith Barker is at Northwich Victoria.

[rover6]

AZ Alkmaar - Toni Kolehmainen

Another success story for our unbelievable academy staff.

From my research, we released Kolehmainen for NOUGHT to FC Oula. And FC Oula sold him to AZ Alkmaar for 750, 000 Euros.

Nice one lads, Bobby Downes and Co. Keep up the good work bigging up genii like Keith Barker, football-cum-cricketing wonderboy.

[BRFC1995]

all the best to them ....bar ward, just can't bring myself to be happy about how filthy rich he is on account of mr.Kidd being a terrible manager. its just wrong.

[bob fleming]

Another success story for our unbelievable academy staff.

From my research, we released Kolehmainen for NOUGHT to FC Oula. And FC Oula sold him to AZ Alkmaar for 750, 000 Euros.

Nice one lads, Bobby Downes and Co. Keep up the good work bigging up genii like Keith Barker, football-cum-cricketing wonderboy.

Good grief. What are you on about now?

Do you think Downes decides who gets taken as a Pro?!?

Downes goes out and picks the best he possibly can from throughout the whole of Europe and occasionally as far as Great Harwood. If those guys don't get picked after a couple of years, to go into the first team squad then they get released, it's not his fault. It's the First Team Manager who makes that decision.

If they go on to hit the heights later in their career at the likes of FC Oula and AZ Alkmaar rather than Everton or Arsenal then it's hardly Downes' fault is it?

(SORRY! Off topic.)

[rover6]

Kolehmainen didn't make it to the reserves, I think. So, I guess the main people involved in reaching that decision were Gary Bowyer and Glyn Hodges. Perhaps, I am being unfair on Downes in that respect but being the top man at the academy, he must carry some responsibility for such decisions.

However, surely it is a major embarrassment to the academy/reserve staff that a player is discarded as not good enough for the reserves and yet, he crops up at Alkmaar, having earned his previous club a decent transfer fee. Frankly, with the paucity of talent coming through, we can't afford to lose out on that sort of money.

[disgruntled]

Kolehmainen didn't make it to the reserves, I think. So, I guess the main people involved in reaching that decision were Gary Bowyer and Glyn Hodges. Perhaps, I am being unfair on Downes in that respect but being the top man at the academy, he must carry some responsibility for such decisions.

However, surely it is a major embarrassment to the academy/reserve staff that a player is discarded as not good enough for the reserves and yet, he crops up at Alkmaar, having earned his previous club a decent transfer fee. Frankly, with the paucity of talent coming through, we can't afford to lose out on that sort of money.

How do you know he was discarded for not being good enough? Maybe as a young lad having to move overseas he struggled to adjust and requested to go back home? It happens a lot. This was also four years ago when the former regime had just arrived.

[rover6]

The F.T odds are drifting dramatically on betfair. Either it's the mole at work again, burrowing away in his blind little way, or something is genuinely happening.

Nicko, what's the latest? ANd mods, isn't it time for another poll?

Oooh, the game is afoot.

Edited June 21, 2008 by rover6

[GiddyGoat]

Link please !!! just hearsay

I'm surprised so many people have been taken in by this bizarre story.

The idea that Paul Dickov would leave a pub and then POP in to a newsagents without so much as a word to his press contacts

I wonder if there is a bet fair maket on seeing Paul Dickov betting on himself becoming the next manager of Londis in Hale

[Ozz]

Does or did anyone know the fella from popular music group Blancmange, who supported Rovers-he listed Noel Brotherston as a hero in an interview on a copy of Smash Hits once. From Darwen I remember.

[bob fleming]

Does or did anyone know the fella from popular music group Blancmange, who supported Rovers-he listed Noel Brotherston as a hero in an interview on a copy of Smash Hits once. From Darwen I remember.

I don't know him but that was Neil Arthur.

As for Warhurst - still injured probably.

[Mr Creosote]

I don't know him but that was Neil Arthur.

As for Warhurst - still injured probably.

I saw Warhurst playing for Barnet at Stanley season before last. Glided through the game at centre half. A real talent who didn't quite fulfil his potential through a combination of injury and imo, a laid back attitude and lack of a mean streak.

[BlueMonday]

I don't know him but that was Neil Arthur.

Off topic, but they are supposed to be releasing a record sometime soon.

[FourLaneBlue]

Warhurst was at Northwich Victoria last season as player-manager in a caretaker role but he left when he wasn´t given the job permanently.

Don´t know about Sutton but his brother was playing for someone in the lower leagues who I can´t remember and his dad used to play so quite a footballing family.

[rover6]

John Sutton plays for Wycombe.

[Ozz]

Whittle Blues superb uploads of old Rovers footage to Youtube are wonderful, and his clip here of that superb game against Villa, when Steve Archibald got two has even attracted comments from Arch himself!

[den]

Whittle Blues superb uploads of old Rovers footage to Youtube are wonderful, and his clip here of that superb game against Villa, when Steve Archibald got two has even attracted comments from Arch himself!

???

[Ozz]

Look under the vidoe bit Den.

"Hi Alex

This is Arch answering, my 10 year old son Elliot has just shown me the video and you comments, and you were right I was puffed out as I had just ran the length of the pitch, but it was worth it. Seeing the video and your comments has brought it all back, great times and brillian people in Blackburn, Don Mackay and the club really looked after me and I enjoyed a great experience, you included.

Kind regards

Steve Archibald"

[den]

Ah, thanks Ozz. Sounds like he lives in Spain now eh? That's one place I could retire to. [i wish!].

[Luke Lim]

What happened to Colin Henry, Jason Wilcox? Still alive and kicking?