Biography
Versatile full-back Liam Rosenior, whose Nan was famously “from ‘Ull” and whose father was former journeyman striker Leroy Rosenior, joined the Tigers in October 2010 on an initial two month deal, having been a free agent for six months. Within a few weeks his services had been secured on a long term contract and he slotted into the right back role as the Tigers sought to re-establish themselves as a force in the Championship following the extreme highs and lows of two seasons in the Premier League. Liam missed only two League games during the 2011/12 season but when Steve Bruce took over the reins at Hull City in June 2012 he was used more sparingly. However Rosenior continued to play an important support role for the squad and never gave less than a solid and sound performance – including an extended first team spell in the 2013/14 season during which he scored his only Hull City goal, in March 2014 against West Bromwich Albion. He also featured in City’s 2013/14 FA Cup run, starting in the Final against Arsenal and enjoying the lung-busting first ten minutes that saw the Tigers take a two goal lead. The following season Liam also featured in City’s all-too-brief European campaign before dropping out of the first team for much of the campaign. He was released in May 2015, posting a generous eulogy in the Hull Daily Mail in praise of the way Hull City fans had supported him over the previous five years.
Liam James Rosenior was born in London but raised in the South West of England and started his career as a teenager at League Division 2 side Bristol City. He made his League debut for Bristol City in April 2002 against Stoke City and scored 3 goals in 27 appearances (mostly as substitute) during the 2002/03 season. The promise he showed encouraged Premier League side Fulham to sign him in November 2003 but in March 2004 he was in need of first team experience and was loaned to League Division 3 strugglers Torquay United, where he made 10 senior appearances. Returning to Fulham for the start of the 2004/05 season, Rosenior made his Premier League debut against Manchester United in December 2004 and became a regular full back for the Cottagers, making 92 appearances and scoring just once in a September 2005 League Cup tie against Lincoln City.
In August 2007 Rosenior transferred to Premier League rivals Reading, providing a support role in his first season as the Royals dropped into the Championship then making the right back berth his own during the 2008/09 season. After six starts for Reading at the start of the 2009/10 season, taking his tally to 69 appearances, in September 2009 Liam joined Ipswich Town on a season long loan where he added a further 31 senior appearances and one goal. Rosenior left Reading during the 2010 close season and was without a club when he joined Hull City in October 2010 on a short term deal.
Following his release from the Tigers in 2015 Rosenior moved to Brighton & Hove Albion where he continued to play an important role in getting clubs out of the Championship. He played regularly during the 2015/16 season that ended with defeat in the play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday, Rosenior playing in both legs. He was used more sparingly in the 2016/17 season as the Seagulls secured automatic promotion and his final season with Brighton was spent back in the Premier League, a fitting denouement to his stay on the South Coast that saw him add 55 senior appearances, taking his career total to 446 appearances and six goals.
Rosenior announced the end of his playing career in July 2018 as he took up a dual role, coaching at Brighton and punditing for Sky Sports. In July 2019 he walked away from his touch screen TV and copious xG statistics to join the coaching staff at Championship side Derby County, going on to be assistant manager to Wayne Rooney throughout the club’s financial meltdown. When Rooney departed Derby County for a new role in the USA in July 2022 Rosenior took over the first team reins on a caretaker basis. In September 2022 Rosenior left Derby County to make way for new Rams’ manager Paul Warne.
In early November 2022 Rosenior was appointed Hull City head coach by owner Acun Illicali, signing a two and half year contract and assembling a coaching team that comprised previous caretaker manager Andy Dawson and his former Derby County assistant Jason Walker. In his first season he piloted the Tigers away from the relegation zone, deploying the characteristic brand of possession-based football he first learned at Brighton. The 2023/24 season saw Liam deploy his patient passing style of football to great effect, propelling the Tigers to play-off positions for much of the season before falling agomisingly short in seventh place during the closing weeks of the season. Rosenior was given a significant armoury of loan players in order to seek a play-off berth and that failure led to City owner Acun Ilicali dispensing with his services in May 2024 after 78 matches in charge.
In July 2024 Liam was appointed first team coach at French Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg, guiding his side to a decent mid-table position by the turn of the year.
Rosenior won international recognition during his time at Reading. In June 2005 he played four times for England Under-20s in that year’s Toulon Tournament. By that time he had already played at England Under-21 level, making his debut in March 2005 against Germany – a match played at Hull’s KC Stadium – then making a second appearance four days later against Azerbaijan at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium. He added another four Under-21 appearances in friendlies during the 2006/07 season before winning his seventh and final Under-21 cap against Netherlands in the semi-final of the Euro 2007 Under-21 Championship, coming on as a late substitute and converting his penalty in an epic shoot-out that lasted a remarkable 32 kicks before the Dutch prevailed.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 9 July 1984, Wandsworth
Hull City First Game: 30 October 2010, Barnsley A (Championship), 26 years, 113 days old
Hull City Final Game: 28 April 2015, Liverpool H (Premier League), 30 years, 293 days old
Clubs
Bristol City (2000-2003), Fulham (2003-2007), Torquay United (2004, loan), Reading (2007-2010), Ipswich Town (2009-2010, loan), Hull City (2010-2015), Brighton & Hove Albion (2015-2018)
Hull City Record
Career: 161 apps, 1 goals
Liam Rosenior| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 | 26 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2011/12 | 44 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2012/13 | 15 (17) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 2013/14 | 22 (7) | 1 | 5 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 2014/15 | 5 (8) | 0 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | – | – |