LEROY ROSENIOR

'Leroy Rosenior' (born August 24, 1964 in Clapham, London) is a football (soccer) coach, recently sacked by Torquay United after only ten minutes in the post, making this the shortest managerial tenure in English football history.
He is a former professional footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 Milk Cup Final), Bristol City and West Ham United.
As one of the few black football managers in England, Rosenior has spoken openly about the racism that he experienced as a player and a manager. He has said that there is a glass ceiling holding back qualified black coaches from getting the top jobs.^[1]
His son Liam is a professional footballer.

Contents

Playing career

Honours

Coaching and managerial career

Honours

References

External links

Playing career

Rosenior was a striker for most of his career although towards the end of his playing days at Gloucester City A.F.C. he also turned out at centre-back.
He played for the following clubs during his career:

★ Fulham

★ Queens Park Rangers

★ West Ham United

★ Fulham (loan)

★ Charlton Athletic (loan)

★ Bristol City

★ Fleet Town

★ Gloucester City
He played for England at Under-16 and Under-21 level but changed allegiance to Sierra Leone to gain one cap for the country.

Honours

★ 1986 League Cup runner-up (QPR 0-3 Oxford United)

★ 1982 Fulham F.C. Young Player of the Year

★ 1987 Fulham F.C. Player of the Year

Coaching and managerial career

★ Bristol City (youth team coach)

★ Gloucester City (player-manager)

★ Bristol City (youth, reserve and caretaker first team coach)

★ Merthyr Tydfil (manager)

★ Torquay United (manager)

★ Shrewsbury Town (first team coach)

★ Brentford (manager)
Rosenior was manager of Torquay United from July 2002 to January 25, 2006, when he left the club by mutual consent after the 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.
On March 30, 2006, he was named first team coach at Shrewsbury Town, acting as assistant to manager Gary Peters. He left on June 13, 2006 to take up the managerial position at Brentford.
He was appointed manager of Brentford on June 14, 2006, succeeding Martin Allen.^[2] Twenty years earlier he had replaced Allen when he came on as a substitute for in the 1986 League Cup final. Just five months after his appointment, Rosenior left the club on November 18 2006.^[3], after a run of 16 games without a win, which culminated in a 4-0 home defeat to Crewe.
He was scheduled to take charge of the Sierra Leone national side for a friendly against Leyton Orient F.C. in May 2007,^[4] but the match was cancelled due to visa difficulties. However it was announced on BBC Radio 5 Live on 27th May 2007 that he would indeed take charge of Sierra Leone in their upcoming African Nations Qualifiers.
Rosenior returned to Torquay United as head coach on 17 May, 2007, replacing Keith Curle^[5] but was reportedly sacked after 10 minutes, which gave him the record of the shortest managerial reign in the history of English football.^[6]

Honours

★ Promoted to League One with Torquay United in May 2004.

References

1. Bees board choose Rosenior for top job
2. Rosenior appointed as Manager
3. Rosenior sacked as Brentford boss
4. Rosenior gets Sierra Leone chance
5. Rosenior makes return to Torquay
6. Rosenior loses job in 10 minutes

External links

★ Gloucester City website

★ Soccerbase

★ Daily Telegraph - article where Leroy discusses racism in football.