Gary Rowett

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.

Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed Championship club Millwall.

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.

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.

In June 2000, Rowett returned to the Premier League by joining Leicester City.

Southampton had been interested in him and bid £2 million, but could not better Leicester's £3 million due to the costs of their new stadium.

He competed in the UEFA Cup, where they lost in the first round on penalties to Red Star Belgrade.

His first top-flight goal for the club on 3 February 2001 won the game 2–1 against Chelsea at Filbert Street, within seconds of the opposition's goal by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

In May 2002, he switched to Charlton Athletic for £3.5 million.

Charlton manager Alan Curbishley had wanted to sign Rowett for years, but he chose Leicester as they were closer to his home and competing in the UEFA Cup.

His only goal for them earned a 1–1 home draw against Sunderland on 3 November 2002.

His professional career ended in 2004, through a knee injury.

He retired from professional football in July 2004 due to a knee injury, weeks after his defensive partner Richard Rufus, having made only 13 league appearances in two years at The Valley.

He did return to play for Burton Albion in the Conference National, having been persuaded by manager Nigel Clough in 2005.

In May 2009, he was appointed assistant manager to Paul Peschisolido at Burton, and took over as manager in 2012.

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.

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 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.

He was appointed the manager of Birmingham City in October 2014 and served until December 2016.

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.

On 27 October 2014, Rowett was appointed the 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 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.

He became Derby County manager in March 2017, and joined Stoke City in May 2018.

After failing to mount a promotion challenge, he was sacked in January 2019 and was appointed manager of Millwall that October, before leaving by mutual consent four years later.

He started his career at Cambridge United as a product of their youth system.