939 Rowan Vine

Biography

Striker Vine joined City on a month’s loan in October 2010 with the intention of contributing goals to manager Nigel Pearson’s Championship campaign – he was unable to achieve his target and was returned from whence he came when his loan deal expired.

Rowan Lewis Vine was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire and came through the academy system at League Division One side Portsmouth during the late 1990s. By the 1999/00 season Vine was scoring regularly for the Pompey youth team and in December 2000 he made his debut when playing the final seven minutes of a drab 0-0 draw against Sheffield United. Rowan signed his first professional contract in April 2001 on the same day he made his second senior appearance for Pompey against Fulham. During the 2001/02 the young Vine inhabited the fringes of the first eleven, adding another eleven appearances including three starts, the first of which came in March 2002 against Crewe Alexandra.

In August 2002 Rowan embarked on the first of three season-long loans. He spent the 2002/03 season at League Division 2 side Brentford, scoring on his August 2002 debut against Huddersfield Town – his first senior goal – he had netted eleven times by the end of the calendar year and finished his season of regular first team football with thirteen goals in 50 appearances. In August 2003 Vine began his second loan at League Division 2 side Colchester United. He scored just as regularly for the U’s and netted an impressive February 2004 hattrick in an FA Cup tie against League Division 1 side Coventry City. He ended his season at Layer Road with twelve goals in 49 appearances.

In August 2004 he joined League One side Luton Town, spending his third season in the third tier of the English game. The Hatters powered their way to the League One title in the 2004/05 season and Vine netted nine goals including a December 2004 brace against former side Colchester United. Luton’s rise to the Championship encouraged them to pay a reputed £250,000 for Vine’s services in July 2005 – he left Portsmouth having made 13 senior appearances for the side.

A back injury meant that Rowan missed the opening three months of the 2005/06 season but when he was restored to fitness he was soon amongst the goals, netting twice when handed his first of the season against Crewe Alexandra in November 2005. Known as much for his assists as his goals, Vine was a key part of the Hatters’ first team for the next fifteen months but as financial woes left the club struggling at the foot of the table during the 2006/07 season, Luton were forced to cash in their prize assets. In January 2007 Vine joined Championship rivals Birmingham City for a £2.5 million fee, across his loan and permanent spells at Luton he scored 33 goals for the club in 111 appearances.

Vine’s spell at Birmingham City was short-lived, he scored his only goal for the Blues against Derby County in March 2007 as the Midlands side won promotion to the Premier League and made the last of his 19 appearances in September 2007. In October 2007 he joined Championship side Queens Park Rangers, initially on loan then permanently from January 2008, a £1 million fee being paid at that time. Vine scored on his October 2007 debut for QPR against Colchester United, punishing his former side once again, and ended his first season at Loftus Road with six goals. In April 2008 Vine suffered a major fracture of his leg during a training session, snapping his tibula and fibula, an injury that took twelve months to heal. He returned to the R’s first team in April 2009 and was used regularly as an impact substitute during the 2009/10 season. But by the start of the 2010/11 season he was out of the first team picture ahead of his loan to Hull City.

In November 2010 Vine joined League One side Brentford on a month’s loan, returning to Griffin Park eight years after his first spell with the Bees. He failed to make a first team start and in January 2011 he was on the move again, making a half-season long loan move to League One promotion contenders Milton Keynes Dons. Vine scored one goal in 17 appearances but was not involved when the Dons reached the end of season play-offs only to lose the semi-final to Peterborough United.

Vine had further loan spells during the 2011/12 season after a potential summer move to Doncaster Rovers failed to happen. In August and September 2011 he had a one month loan at League One side Exeter City, making 6 appearances, then he ended the season with a two month loan at League Two side Gillingham that yielded one goal in 9 appearances. He finally left Queens Park Rangers in June 2012 having scored eight goals in 72 appearances over four and a half seasons.

In August 2012 Vine headed north and joined Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone on a free transfer. He made an August 2012 debut against Heart of Midlothian, was sent off a week later against Motherwell and scored his first goal for the Saints a month later against Celtic. He scored seven goals in 37 appearances but was not awarded a new contract in the 2013 close season. In July 2013 he joined SPL rivals Hibernian and made 14 appearances for the Hibees that included two matches in the Europa League against Swedish side Malmo FF, Vine’s only exposure to European competition. In January 2014 he left Hibernian and joined Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton, where he scored four goals in 12 appearances after debuting for The Ton against Cowdenbeath in February 2014. Vine left Morton in the 2014 close season and bought his Football League career to an end.

Returning to Southern England, Vine had a six month pause before joining Conference National side Welling United in January 2015. Rowan scored on his January 2015 debut against Alfreton Town but made just one further appearance a fortnight later before moving on to National League South side Havant and Waterlooville for the remainder of the 2014/15 season. For the next four seasons Vine had spells of varying length at a number of non-league teams in the Hampshire and Surrey area, helping out without earning a regular first team spot.

In October 2020 Vine became a player-coach at National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town but was evidently asked to focus on his coaching, being chosen as unused substitute just once. Between January and September 2023 Vine was first team manager at Southern League side Hartley Wintney, leaving the club shortly after they were relegated to the Isthmian League.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 21 September 1982, Basingstoke
Hull City First Game: 2 October 2010, Coventry City H (Championship), 28 years, 11 days old
Hull City Final Game: 30 October 2010, Barnsley A (Championship), 28 years, 39 days old

Clubs

Portsmouth (1998-2005), Brentford (2002-2003, loan), Colchester United (2003-2004, loan), Luton Town (2004-2005, loan), Luton Town (2005-2007), Birmingham City (2007-2008), Queens Park Rangers (2007-2008, loan), Queens Park Rangers (2008-2012), Hull City (2010, loan), Brentford (2010, loan), Milton Keynes Dons (2011, loan), Exeter City (2011, loan), Gillingham (2012, loan), St Johnstone (2012-2013), Hibernian (2013-2014), Greenock Morton (2014), Welling United (2015), Havant & Waterlooville (2015), Gosport Borough (2015), Basingstoke Town (2015-2016), Gosport Borough (2017), Southall (2017), Hayes & Yeading (2017), Hartley Wintney (2017-2018), Gosport Borough (2018), Alresford Town (2018), Hartley Wintney (2018), Southall (2018-2019), Moneyfields (2019), Tadley Calleva (2019), Hemel Hempstead Town (2020)

Hull City Record

Career: 5 apps, 0 goals

Rowan Vine
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
App
FLC
Gls
EUR
App
EUR
Gls
OTH
App
OTH
Gls
2010/114 (1)0

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.