Gary Rowett

Gary Rowett

Pictured in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Gary Rowett
Date of birth	(1974-03-06) 6 March 1974
Place of birth	Bromsgrove, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Derby County (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1994	Cambridge United	63	(9)
1994–1995	Everton	4	(0)
1995	→ Blackpool (loan)	17	(0)
1995–1998	Derby County	105	(3)
1998–2000	Birmingham City	86	(6)
2000–2002	Leicester City	49	(2)
2002–2004	Charlton Athletic	13	(1)
2005–2007	Burton Albion	43	(1)
Total		380	(22)
Managerial career
2012–2014	Burton Albion
2014–2016	Birmingham City
2017–	Derby County
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Championship club Derby County.

As a player, he was a defender, and played in the Premier League for Everton, Derby County, Leicester City and Charlton Athletic. He also played in the Football League for Cambridge United, Blackpool, Birmingham City and Burton Albion. In May 2009 he was appointed assistant manager to Paul Peschisolido at Burton, and took over as manager in 2012. He was appointed manager of Birmingham City in October 2014 and served until December 2016. He became Derby manager in March 2017.

Playing career

He started his career at Cambridge United as product of their youth system. He was part of the Cambridge team which achieved fifth place in the 1991–92 Second Division, which remains the club's best league finish to date. They were also play-off semi-finalists that year. He was also part of their best ever League Cup run, when they reached the quarter-finals the following season. After three seasons at the Abbey Stadium he earned a move to the Premiership with Everton in March 1994 for £200,000. Everton won the FA Cup in his first full season, but Rowett was not involved in the 1995 FA Cup run or the final against Manchester United. After failing to break into the first team, Rowett went on loan to Blackpool before being sold to Derby County in part-exchange for Craig Short. Rowett spent three seasons at Derby, followed by a two-year spell with Birmingham City, where he helped the club reach the play-offs, and also played for Leicester City and Charlton Athletic. A persistent knee injury put an end to his career in the Football League, though he did play for Burton Albion before retiring.

Managerial career

Burton Albion

In May 2009, Rowett was named as assistant to newly appointed manager Paul Peschisolido at Burton Albion. Rowett was put in temporary charge of Burton, assisted by Kevin Poole, following Peschisolido's sacking in March 2012. On 10 May, Rowett was announced as the permanent manager of Burton Albion. In his first season, he led Burton to fourth place in League Two, losing in the play-off semi-final to Bradford City, and followed up with a sixth-place finish in 2013–14 and a 1–0 defeat to Fleetwood in the play-off final.

Whilst in charge of Burton, Rowett oversaw their best ever League Cup performance, as they reached the third round in 2012–13 before being eliminated by Bradford City. They equaled this achievement two years later under his successor Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Unfortunately, he was also in charge for their two worst defeats in the Football League, both 7–1. The first was against Bristol Rovers in April 2012, while he was still temporary manager, and the second against Port Vale in April 2013.

In September 2014, with Burton near the top of League Two, Rowett rejected the opportunity to manage Championship strugglers Blackpool; he said he felt it was not the right job for him at the present time.

Birmingham City

Pictured in 2016

On 27 October 2014, Rowett was appointed manager of his former club, Birmingham City – one place above Blackpool at the bottom of the Championship table. He was joined at Birmingham by Burton backroom staff members Kevin Summerfield as assistant manager, Mark Sale as first-team coach and Poole as goalkeeping coach. All three are also former Birmingham City players. Rowett guided Birmingham from 21st in the Championship to 10th at the end of his first season, earning many plaudits for the remarkable turnaround in form.

Rowett was sacked by Birmingham on 14 December 2016 upon their change of ownership and boardroom team, despite leading the team to 7th in the Championship table and challenging for a play-off place. The decision was met with surprise and criticism by Birmingham supporters, with the club appointing Gianfranco Zola as his replacement. Zola resigned as Birmingham manager in April 2017, after a sequence of only two wins in 24 games throughout his tenure at manager left the club embroiled in a relegation battle.

Derby County

Rowett was appointed as manager of Derby County, another of his former clubs as a player, on 14 March 2017, signing a contract until the end of the 2018–19 season. He replaced the sacked Steve McClaren, with Derby having been on a poor run of form. He guided Derby to a ninth placed finish in the Championship that season.

On 9 January 2018, Rowett signed an improved contract with Derby, extending his stay as the club's manager until 2021. He had guided Derby to an impressive start to the season, with the club second place in the table and challenging for promotion to the Premier League.

Media career

Rowett reviewed Birmingham City matches with Tom Ross on radio station BRMB, and for the 2008–09 season, summarised matches involving Derby County for BBC Radio Derby.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 3 March 2018

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Burton Albion	17 March 2012	27 October 2014	142	63	34	45	044.4
Birmingham City	27 October 2014	14 December 2016	106	42	32	32	039.6
Derby County	14 March 2017	Present	47	21	15	11	044.7
Total			295	126	81	88	042.7	—

External links

• Gary Rowett at Soccerbase