Russell Perrett (born 18 June 1973) is an English 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 spent most of his career with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. He started his career in non-league football with Lymington Town in the Wessex League where he holds the record as the youngest player to play in that league at age 14.

Football career

After being released from Portsmouth, where he had completed a two-year apprenticeship, he went back to play for Lymington Town in the Wessex League. He spent four seasons there before undergoing a month-long trial back at Portsmouth and was offered a contract by the then manager,

Terry Fenwick Terence William Fenwick (born 17 November 1959) is an English football manager and former player who played either as a centre-back or a full-back. During his playing career, he made a total of 455 appearances in the Football League for Cryst ...

. He soon established himself in the first team and was rewarded with a three-year contract. The arrival of Alan Ball, who coincidentally signed Perrett as an apprentice on his first spell at Portsmouth, meant appearances were limited and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

's manager,

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south to ...

, signed him on a free transfer in 1999. Burrows left and the arrival of ex-

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

chairman

Sam Hammam Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

and manager

Bobby Gould Robert Hewitt Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton). He spent hi ...

meant a total restructure of the club and Perrett was given a free transfer in 2001. Perrett was signed by Luton Town's manager

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EFL ...

in summer 2001, after spells with AFC Lymington, Portsmouth and

. He signed a new one-year deal in February 2007, but was deemed surplus to requirements by the new manager,

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. Ea ...

, and was released in July 2007 after six years at the club, winning one league title and two promotions. He subsequently signed for the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on a one-year contract. He chose to retire on 7 May 2008 after suffering a bout of pleurisy which sidelined him for four months of his first season at the club."Quintet will depart Bournemouth"
''BBC News'', 7 May 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrett, Russell 1973 births Living people English footballers A.F.C. Lymington players AFC Bournemouth players Cardiff City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players People from New Milton Association football defenders Wessex Football League players