Vance Warner (born 3 September 1974) is an English former professional

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 as a defender from 1994 until 2000 notably for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, as well as appearing for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Career

Nottingham Forest

Warner came through the youth ranks at

under Frank Clark. Despite being touted as "the new

Des Walker Desmond Sinclair Walker (born 26 November 1965) is an English football coach and former player, who played as a defender. At club level he played in seven cup finals for Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five of them. He was Forest's play ...

", Warner struggled to break into the first team and spent time on loan with

during the 1995–1996 season who were managed by Warner's former teammate

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

. He played 3 times for Grimsby before returning to the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

in April 1996.

Rotherham United

Following a two-month loan spell with

at the start of the 1997–1998 season,

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...

convinced Warner to sign for the club on a free transfer in November 1997. Warner played 63 times in league and cup competitions during his time with United, scoring 1 goal on 8 August 1998 in a 3–1 home win over

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 ...

. He had a memorable chant of 'Ooh Vancey Warner' & was noted for his quick pace & uncompromising tackling style. Warner was released by United in the summer of 2000 after spending three seasons with The Millers.

International career

In October 1992, Warner made one appearance for England U18, starting in a 2–0 defeat in a friendly against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Personal life

Warner although not officially retiring didn't return to football following his release from Rotherham and since then he has worked for BT. Since retiring from professional football, he has been working as a level 7 referee for the

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Football Association The Sheffield and Hallamshire Football Association is a County Football Association in England. It was formed in Sheffield in 1867 as the Sheffield Football Association, and is the second-oldest football governing body after the Football Associ ...

& was named Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA Team Official of the Year in the England Football Grassroots Football Awards 2023. An active charity fundraiser, Warner ran 3,244 miles over 2 years (2018–2020) to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust and in memory of the

youth team coach, John Perkins, who died in 2016. He completed the '1 Million Steps in March for Clare' challenge in March 2022, walking 1,014,692 steps over 550 miles in 31 days, to raise money for Nottingham University Hospitals Charity and in memory of a friend, Clare Doran, who died in 2021.

References

External links

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Since 1888... The Searchable Premiership and Football League Player Database
(subscription required) 1974 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Premier League players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players People educated at West Bridgford School British Telecom people Footballers from Leeds English Football League players England men's youth international footballers English football referees {{england-footy-defender-1970s-stub