Jim Rodwell (born 20 November 1970 in

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

) is the former chairman of

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

and also a 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 played centre-half for the club.

Career

Rodwell began his career playing junior football for Lincoln City and was offered apprentice forms prior to Lincoln being the first team relegated from the football league into the conference in 1987. With uncertainty surrounding the status of Lincoln's players, Rodwell instead undertook his apprenticeship with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. From Darlington, Rodwell went to play football in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

for the Sabah State team. After spells at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, he moved to the non-league pyramid, joining the likes of

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

Bedworth United Bedworth United Football Club is a football club based in Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Oval. History The first club from which the modern Bedworth United traces its lineage was Bedworth ...

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

and

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rece ...

. In 1995, Rodwell captained the Great Britain University side at the

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, Japan. In August 1996, he became Halesowen's record sale when

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

paid £40,000 for his services. An integral part in Rushden's rise up the pyramid into the football league, he was named as the club's player of the year on two occasions. In 2002, Rodwell also came third on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's Britain's Brainiest Footballer quiz. Rodwell moved to

in February 2002, helping the Pilgrims into the football league. From Boston, Jim played for

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

then

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

and finally Tamworth. In January 2004, he returned to

, initially as

Caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

, before taking up a role as

Director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

and eventually becoming Chairman in June 2006. In July 2007, after a turbulent time Rodwell resigned as chairman in the wake of the club being sold to Chestnut Homes. On 11 February 2010 Rodwell became chief executive of

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

after a buy out of County by

Ray Trew Raymond Arthur Trew (born December 1954) is a businessman and former football club chairman from Lincolnshire. He is a former board member of Lincoln City F.C., Notts County F.C., and Notts County Ladies F.C. Trew achieved his wealth through r ...

. Rodwell left Notts County in March 2015 to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

Football Club, and then on 22 April 2020 he was announced at chief executive of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He left that post on 19 February 2021, after Sunderland were taken over by

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (born 18 December 1997) is a French businessman. He is a member of the French Louis-Dreyfus family. Since February 2021, Louis-Dreyfus has been the Chairman of English Championship football club, Sunderland. In June 2022, he ...

. Rodwell took the job as Interim CEO at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

whilst they search for a permanent CEO after Bob Symns retirement. From February 2022 until July 2022, Rodwell served as the interim CEO for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

. Rodwell has sat on the board of both the EFL and the FA Council. On 20 December 2022, Rodwell was named chief operating officer of

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. The failure of a proposed takeover of the club led to Rodwell's departure on 10 February 2023.

References

External links

*
Profile
at the officia
Boston United
site {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodwell, Jim 1970 births Living people Footballers from Lincoln, England Darlington F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players English Football League players Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League office holders