Donald Rogers (born 25 October 1945) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who is best known for his time with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

. He played as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and served the club in two spells.

Playing career

Born in

Paulton, Somerset Paulton () is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish, with a population of 5,302, located to the north of the Mendip Hills, very close to Norton Radstock in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset (BANES), Eng ...

, Rogers signed a youth contract with Swindon in January 1961 at the age of fifteen; having turned professional in October 1962, he made his first-team debut on 17 November in a Third Division match against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. Rogers scored the two extra-time goals which won the

1969 Football League Cup Final The 1969 Football League Cup Final took place on 15 March 1969 at Wembley Stadium. It was the ninth final and the third to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Swindon Town. The Football League Cup winners were given a place ...

for Swindon, 3–1 against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

in 1972 for a fee of £147,000. Highlights included scoring two goals in a 5–0 victory over Manchester United at Selhurst Park in 1972 and scoring the goal of the season in 1973. He then joined

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in September 1974 in an exchange deal involving

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

and Ian Evans. Rogers played 18 league games for QPR, scoring five goals, before returning to Swindon in March 1976 in exchange for

Peter Eastoe Peter Robert Eastoe (born 2 August 1953) is an English former footballer. Career Eastoe signed schoolboy forms with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the late 1960s. Unable to break into the Wolves first team, the former English youth international ...

. In November 1976 Rogers moved on loan to the Southern League team

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

, where he joined his old Swindon teammate

Stan Harland Stanley Clarence Harland (19 June 1940 – 30 August 2001) was an English football centre half. Career Born in Liverpool, Harland's football career began at local club New Brighton. It was from here that he attracted interest from Everton wh ...

. He returned to Swindon two months later and, after suffering a hip injury, retired at the end of the 1976–77 season and now runs a sports shop in Swindon bearing his name.

Managerial career

In the 1990 Rogers was manager of Lambourn Sports, who were at the time in the

Hellenic Football League The Hellenic Football League, currently known as the Uhlsport Hellenic Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English men's football league covering an area including the English counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, southern Buck ...

. During his tenure as manager, he helped secured the club's promotion to the Premier Division for the first time in 12 years, and reached the final of the Berks and Bucks Senior Trophy winning it once in the 1994–95 season, completing a league and cup double. He then went on to become joint manager of Swindon Supermarine with John Fisher in July 1996 and won the

Premier Division title in the 1997–98 season. He and Fisher left at the start of the 1998–99 campaign due to the club's lack of ambition. Rogers was subsequently appointed manager of

Hungerford Town Hungerford Town Football Club is a semi-professional Football club (association football), football club based in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association, they are currently members of and play at B ...

but, despite guiding them to the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Cup, left at the start of the 1999–2000 season.History 1
Hungerford Town F.C.

Personal life

After retiring, he went into the retail business, owning a shop in Swindon called Don Rogers Sports.

The Don Rogers Stand

On 22 March 2008 Swindon Town announced that the South Stand would be renamed The Don Rogers Stand from the start of the 2008–09 season.

Club Ambassador

On 27 July 2021, Rogers was appointed

Club Ambassador by the new club chairman Clem Morfuni. He also sits on the newly appointed advisory board as well as representing the club within the community of Swindon and the wider region at events, working on community outreach.

References

swindon-town-fc.co.uk :: Don RogersSwindon Town F.C. website

External links

* Don Rogers - The Authorised Biography by Peter Matthews *
Don Rogers Sports Shop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Don 1945 births Living people People from Paulton English footballers England under-23 international footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Association football wingers English football managers Lambourn Sports F.C. managers Hungerford Town F.C. managers Swindon Supermarine F.C. managers