882 Alan Rogers

Biography

Experienced left back Alan Rogers joined Hull City in February 2006 on loan, having been plucked from Nottingham Forest’s reserves to shore up Peter Taylor’s defence as the Tigers sought to avoid relegation in their first season back in the Championship for fifteen years. He remained in the first team for two months, relegation was avoided and the mission was accomplished, but a longer term move for Rogers was not agreed.

Alan Rogers was born in Liverpool and was associated with Liverpool’s youth team during the early 1990s after being chosen to play for Merseyside Under-15s in December 1991. By July 1993 Alan had joined the youth team setup across the River Mersey at Tranmere Rovers, starting in pre-season friendlies against local lower league opposition. He signed his first professional contract for Rovers in July 1995 after starring in a November 1994 FA Youth Cup victory over Liverpool. By September 1995 Rogers was a part of Tranmere’s first team squad and in November 1995 he was handed a new five year contract, just four months after signing his first professional deal and days before making his League Division 1 debut against Grimsby Town. Rogers’ debut for Tranmere was impressive enough to see him retain a first team place for the remainder of the 1995/96 season, scoring his first goal for the club against Birmingham City in March 1996. After a slow start to the 1996/97 season that was hampered by an opening day red card, Alan made the left back role his own from October 1996 onwards and ended the season as one of Rovers’ prized assets, having scored two goals in 59 appearances.

In July 1997 Rogers joined League Division 1 rivals Nottingham Forest, Tranmere earning a handsome £2 million fee for their four years of development work. He made his Forest debut against Port Vale in August 1997, scored his first goal for the club against Bury in March 1998 and was ever-present in all competitions as the City Ground side lifted the league title and won promotion to the Premier League. Less than three years after his senior debut for Tranmere, Rogers made his Premier League debut against Arsenal in August 1998 and missed only four league matches all season as Forest finished bottom of the table and returned to League Division 1 – Alan scored four top flight goals in the 1988/99 season, the first of which came against Manchester United in a 1-8 defeat. Back in the second tier, Alan was an important part of the Forest side and contributed eleven goals as they consolidated in mid-table during the 1999/00 season. The club stayed in that drifting mid-table state for two further seasons, however Rogers’ game time was hampered by a knee injury sustained against Gillingham in November 2000 that meant he lost his first team place for a season and a half. His final appearance for Nottingham Forest against Walsall in November 2001 took his tally to twenty goals in 155 appearances.

In November 2001 Premier League side Leicester City signed Rogers for a fee of around £500,000, reuniting with manager Dave Bassett who had signed him for Nottingham Forest four years earlier. Rogers spent three months in the Foxes’ first team but dropped out of the side when Bassett was replaced by Mickey Adams in April 2002. Relegated from the Premier League to League Division 1 in May 2002, Adams restored Rogers to regular first team duties during the 2002/03 season, helping his side to bounce straight back and win promotion to the Premier League – he scored twice against Hull City in a September 2002 League Cup tie. Rogers was used sparingly during the first half of the 2003/04 season and his last Leicester City appearance against Wolverhampton Wanderers in October 2003 took his tally for the Foxes to two goals in 69 appearances. Rogers spent December 2003 and January 2004 on loan at League Division 1 side Wigan Athletic, making 5 appearances, then in February 2004 he returned to League Division 1 side Nottingham Forest on loan for the rest of the season where he made 12 appearances.

In June 2004 Rogers returned to Championship side Nottingham Forest on a permanent contract as part of a swap deal that saw Gareth Williams join the Foxes. He was a first team regular for much of the 2004/05 season until falling out with manager Gary Megson in April 2005, adding 39 appearances to his Forest tally. Rogers was not part of Forest’s first team plans during the 2005/06 season and ended that season with his loan spell at Hull City.

In August 2006 Rogers joined League One side Bradford City but made only 10 appearances moving on to League Two side Accrington Stanley in January 2007, where he made 6 appearances. Rogers ended his playing career at the end of the 2006/07 season and moved into youth team coaching setup at Tranmere Rovers. In October 2014 he was appointed assistant manager at Tranmere by his former Leicester City boss Mickey Adams and in April 2015 he was caretaker manager for 2 matches after Adams’ departure. Between August and November 2015 Rogers was assistant manager at League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers, again working with Mickey Adams, then spent the the latter months of 2016 season coaching in Burnley’s academy. In January 2017 he was appointed first team manager at Northern Premier League side Skelmersdale United but he left the club in September 2017 to focus on his second career in horse racing.

In May 1998 Rogers made 3 appearances for the England Under-21 side against France, South Africa and Argentina

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 3 January 1977, Liverpool
Hull City First Game: 18 February 2006, Cardiff City A (Championship), 29 years, 46 days old
Hull City Final Game: 30 April 2006, Watford A (Championship), 29 years, 117 days old

Clubs

Tranmere Rovers (1993-1997), Nottingham Forest (1997-2001), Leicester City (2001-2004), Wigan Athletic (2003-2004, loan), Nottingham Forest (2004, loan), Nottingham Forest (2004-2006), Hull City (2006, loan), Bradford City (2006-2007), Accrington Stanley (2007)

Hull City Record

Career: 9 apps, 0 goals