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Kevin Russell (footballer)

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Kevin Russell
Personal information
Full name Kevin John Russell
Date of birth (1966-12-06) 6 December 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Portsmouth, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Huddersfield Town (assistant head coach)[1]
Youth career
1982–1984 Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1984 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 (0)
1984–1987 Portsmouth 4 (0)
1987–1989 Wrexham 84 (43)
1989–1992 Leicester City 43 (10)
1990 → Peterborough United (loan) 7 (3)
1991 → Cardiff City (loan) 3 (0)
1991 → Hereford United (loan) 3 (1)
1992 → Stoke City (loan) 5 (1)
1992–1993 Stoke City 40 (5)
1993–1994 Burnley 28 (6)
1994–1995 AFC Bournemouth 30 (1)
1995 Notts County 11 (0)
1995–2002 Wrexham 198 (17)
Total 456 (87)
International career
1984–1985 England U18 6 (2)
Managerial career
2018–2023 Stoke City U21
2023 Cheltenham Town F.C. (Caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kevin John Russell (born 6 December 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Brighton & Hove Albion, Portsmouth, Wrexham, Leicester City, Peterborough United, Cardiff City, Hereford United, Stoke City, Burnley, AFC Bournemouth and Notts County. He is the currently assistant head coach at League One side Huddersfield Town.

Playing career

[edit]

Kevin Russell was a professional footballer and former England Youth international.[2] During a career spanning twenty years he played for eleven clubs. Due to his quiff hairstyle Russell was nicknamed "Rooster" early on in his career;[3] ironically he would lose all his hair in his youth and was bald for much of his playing days.[4][5] Released by Brighton after an apprenticeship Russell returned to his hometown club Portsmouth but appearances were limited[6] He then moved on to Wrexham during the 1987 close season. In the first of his two spells with the club he scored at a rate of just over a goal every two games.[7] In 1989, he joined Leicester City, but was loaned out four times.[8] However, he fought his way into the first team at the end of the 1991–92 season and became a cult-hero, scoring several important late goals after coming off the bench as he helped fire Leicester to the play-off final, eventually losing to Blackburn Rovers. Despite this, he went to Stoke City at the end of the season. While at Stoke he became a key member of the first team as Stoke won the Second Division title in 1992–93.

After one season at Stoke City, he moved onto Burnley for a fee of £130,000.[9] Short spells with AFC Bournemouth and Notts County followed before a move back to the Racecourse Ground. Here, at last, Russell found a permanent home – he was to play nearly 200 more league games for The Robins in a deeper role, eventually being rewarded with a testimonial against Manchester United.[10] In his second spell at Wrexham, he was best remembered for his winning goal against West Ham in an FA Cup third round replay in the 1996–97 season. With the tie goalless, Russell scored a 90th-minute goal to dump West Ham out of the cup at Upton Park.

Coaching career

[edit]

He remained at Wrexham as a coach until being sacked in January 2007. On 12 January 2011, he agreed to rejoin Peterborough United, with Darren Ferguson for a second spell.[11] On 18 August 2014, it was confirmed that he rejoined Stoke City as a coach for the Under 21 and Under 18 sides.[12] He was promoted to Stoke City U23s manager for the 2018–19 season.[13] He left his role with Stoke's under-21s in May 2023.[14]

Russell joined Cheltenham Town as assistant manager to Wade Elliott in July 2023.[15] Elliott was sacked in September 2023 and Russell took temporary charge[16] until superseded by Darrell Clarke with effect from 2 October 2023.[17] Eight days later his departure from the club by mutual consent was announced.[18]

Career statistics

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Source:[19]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Portsmouth 1985–86 Second Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
1986–87 Second Division 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6 0
Total 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 8 0
Wrexham 1987–88 Fourth Division 38 21 2 0 2 1 0 0 42 22
1988–89 Fourth Division 46 22 2 0 2 0 10 3 60 25
Total 84 43 4 0 4 1 10 3 102 47
Leicester City 1989–90 Second Division 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
1990–91 Second Division 13 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 5
1991–92 Second Division 20 5 0 0 1 0 5 2 26 7
Total 43 10 1 0 1 0 5 2 50 12
Peterborough United (loan) 1990–91 Fourth Division 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3
Cardiff City (loan) 1990–91 Fourth Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Hereford United (loan) 1991–92 Fourth Division 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Stoke City (loan) 1991–92 Third Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Stoke City 1992–93 Second Division 40 5 2 0 3 0 5 1 50 6
Total 45 6 2 0 3 0 5 1 55 7
Burnley 1993–94 Second Division 28 6 4 0 4 1 1 1 37 8
AFC Bournemouth 1993–94 Second Division 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
1994–95 Second Division 13 0 2 1 3 1 0 0 18 2
Total 30 1 2 1 3 1 0 0 35 3
Notts County 1994–95 First Division 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Wrexham 1995–96 Second Division 40 7 3 0 2 1 2 0 47 8
1996–97 Second Division 41 0 7 3 1 0 1 0 50 3
1997–98 Second Division 16 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 19 0
1998–99 Second Division 31 2 5 1 2 0 6 0 44 3
1999–2000 Second Division 33 4 5 0 1 0 0 0 39 4
2000–01 Second Division 26 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 28 4
2001–02 Second Division 10 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 12 1
2002–03 Third Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 198 17 23 4 8 2 11 0 240 23
Career Total 456 87 37 5 24 5 35 8 552 105
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

Honours

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Stoke City
Burnley

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Technical staff". Huddersfield Twn A.F.C. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  2. ^ Six u-18 caps in the 1984–85 season AFS DataBase
  3. ^ Portsmouth Sports Mail- "Russell to start against Hull": article by Mike Neasom, 14 February 2007
  4. ^ [1]- "He’s got no hair but we don’t care, Kevin, Kevin Russell"
  5. ^ humorous chant
  6. ^ "Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball" Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN 1-874287-25-2
  7. ^ "The PFA Premier League and Football League Players' Records 1946–98" Hugman,B: Harpenden, Queen Anne Press, 1998 ISBN 1-85291-585-4
  8. ^ Loan details
  9. ^ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 28 June 1993. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Russell in awe of Utd youngsters". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  11. ^ Sacked from Wrexham
  12. ^ "Stoke City: Kevin `Rooster' Russell is back at the club | Stoke Sentinel". www.stokesentinel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Academy coaching details confirmed". Stoke City. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  14. ^ "Stoke City hero Kevin Russell to leave club after nearly a decade as coach". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Kevin Russell and Ashley Vincent added to backroom staff". Cheltenham Town. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Club Statement: Wade Elliott". Cheltenham Town. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Cheltenham appoint Clarke as new head coach". BBC Sport. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Kevin Russell departs Cheltenham Town". www.ctfc.com. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  19. ^ Kevin Russell at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  20. ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.
[edit]
  • Kevin Russell at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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