LEROY ROSENIOR MBE

After it was announced that former Torquay United manager Leroy Rosenior has been awarded an MBE for his services to anti-racism education we will now take an in-depth look at his career in football.

Leroy Rosenior started his career in football as a player with Fulham in 1982 when he was given his debut by the then Cottagers manager Malcolm McDonald. A promising young player, Leroy received international recognition for England at Under-16 and Under-21 Level.

He left Craven Cottage to sign for Queens Park Rangers in 1985 and spent two years at Loftus Road, playing for the Hoops in the 1986 League Cup final before re-joining Fulham in 1987.

 

However, his return to Craven Cottage only lasted for one year as John Lyall signed him for West Ham United in 1988 to fill the void left by Frank McAvennie’s departure to Celtic.

It proved to be an astute move by Lyall as Leroy’s goals helped the Hammers to consolidate their top-flight status in the 1987-88 season. He scored a number of important goals, including a brace in the Hammers’ 4-1 victory over Chelsea in their penultimate game of the campaign.

He finished the 1988-89 campaign as the Hammers’ leading goal scorer, but was unable to prevent West Ham being relegated from Division One.

Leroy remained at Upton Park until 1992 when he moved to Bristol City. Whilst at Ashton Gate, he appeared alongside a number of talented players including Andy Cole, Jackie Dziekanowski and Russell Osman. His playing days ended at Ashton Gate in 1994 after he was forced to quit the game through injury.

Towards the end of his career, Leroy also made a solitary appearance for Sierra Leone.

Following his retirement from playing, Leroy embarked on his managerial career with non-league side Gloucester City. He later returned to Ashton Gate to manage Bristol City’s reserve side and later enjoyed a successful stint as Caretaker Manager of the Robins in 2000 with Dave Burnside and Tony Fawthrop. The trio helped Bristol City reach the Auto Windscreen Shield Final where they lost to Stoke City.

After a brief spell as Merthyr Tydfil manager, Leroy took charge of Torquay United in 2002. In his second season at Plainmoor, Leroy steered the Gulls to promotion to League One with a final day victory over Southend United that clinched Torquay’s first automatic promotion in 38 years. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep them in the Division as they were relegated back to League Two on the final day of the 2004-05 campaign.

Leroy left Torquay in January 2006 and was appointed as manager of Brentford in June 2006. He left Griffin Park after five months as financial pressures forced him to sell many of his best players.

In May 2007, he returned to Torquay United and was reportedly sacked after ten minutes, as the club was sold whilst he was being unveiled as the Gulls’ new manager. This is the shortest reign of any manager in the history of English Football.

Leroy is currently working as a pundit for the BBC – mainly for the Football League Show between 2009 and 2014. He is also a prominent anti-racism campaigner in football and receives his MBE in the 2019 New Year’s honours list for his services to anti-racism education. His son Liam Rosenior has played in the Premier League for Fulham, Reading, Hull City and Brighton and Hove Albion.

An abridged version of this article appeared in the Scunthorpe United vs Bristol City on February 12^th, 2008.