James Rowberry (born 26 April 1985) is a Welsh

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

who was most recently in charge of EFL League Two team Newport County. He began his coaching career at an early age, and at 29 years old became one of the youngest people to ever gain the

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

. Rowberry has previously been a youth coach at Newport and Cardiff City, where he was made first-team coach in 2014.

Coaching career

Rowberry played youth football with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and Newport County, who he joined aged 16. His father Stephen played for Newport in the , and fellow Welsh manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

is a distant relative of Rowberry. He retired as a player aged 21, choosing to concentrate on his coaching career. He grew up a small distance from

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's c ...

, Newport's current stadium, and was the mascot of Newport aged five. Rowberry gained his

in 2014 aged 29, making him one of the youngest people to complete the highest qualification badges in Europe. Upon gaining his badges, he was described as "one of the brightest young coaches coming through" by

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

technical director Osian Roberts. He joined Newport in 2009, working with the first team and development team, before moving to Cardiff City in 2013 to work with the club's academy. He also worked with the

Welsh Football Trust The FAW Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth Bêl-droed Cymru) (formerly known as the Welsh Football Trust) (founded 1996) is recognised as a governing body of sport in Wales by Sport Wales. It was established by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) t ...

as a football development officer, and later as a coach educator. Following the departure of

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...

as Cardiff manager, Rowberry was made a first team coach under new manager

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...

, who described Rowberry as passionate and enthusiastic about coaching. When Slade himself left the job in 2016, Rowberry was among the candidates to take over the role. He would go on to work with

Paul Trollope Paul Jonathan Trollope (born 3 June 1972) is a football coach and former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently joint-assistant manager of Luton Town Born in England, he represents Wales internationally. As a playe ...

and Neil Warnock, and Rowberry says that he learned "pure coaching" from Slade and Trollope, while under Warnock he learned "pure management". He also credits

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

with advising him on the role of being a manager prior to taking over at Newport.

Managerial career

On 19 October 2021, Rowberry was appointed manager of his hometown team, EFL League Two club Newport County, with the team 13th in the league after 13 matches of the 2021–22 season. He was given a contract until summer 2024, and took over from caretaker manager Wayne Hatswell, who had managed the club for four unbeaten league matches following the departure of manager Michael Flynn, with Rowberry saying he had "big shoes to fill" due to the success Flynn had at the club. Hatswell was retained as assistant manager, but resigned his position on 22 February 2022. On the same day, Cardiff coach Carl Serrant was appointed as assistant to Rowberry. Newport finished the season in 11th place in League Two. On 10 October 2022 Rowberry was sacked with Newport in 18th place in League Two after 13 league matches of the 2022–23 season. Serrant was also sacked and Sporting Director

Darren Kelly Darren Kelly (born 30 June 1979) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He is the sporting director of club Newport County A.F.C., Newpor ...

took the role of Newport County caretaker manager.

Personal life

In August 2022, Rowberry revealed that he considers himself 'fortunate to be here' having had a pacemaker fitted following a routine check-up showed led to him being diagnosed with third-degree atrioventricular heart block.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowberry, James 1985 births Living people Footballers from Newport, Wales Welsh men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Welsh football managers Newport County A.F.C. managers English Football League managers Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff