Keith Rowland (born on 1 September 1971) is a Northern Irish football manager and former footballer, who is manager of

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an anc ...

. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Chesterfield and Barnet, as well as with non-league sides Hornchurch, Redbridge and Welling United. He also represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, winning 19 caps. Since retirement, Rowland has worked as a manager and coach within non-league football. He has managed Wingate & Finchley and

Aveley Aveley is a town and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United Kingdom c ...

, having previously been on the coaching staff at

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of ...

Club career

Rowland was signed by

manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In h ...

, making his league debut appearance against

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 underw ...

on 17 August 1991. He had two loan spells away from ''The Cherries'' at

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 ...

and at

where he made two substitute appearances. In the summer of 1993, with Redknapp now assistant manager to

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...

at West Ham, Rowland, was signed for £110,000 alongside midfielder Paul Mitchell. Rowland played 91 games in all competitions for West Ham, scoring only one goal, in a 1–1 away draw against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

in November 1996. He found his first team opportunities limited in his time at West Ham due to injury and the form of first team regulars

Julian Dicks Julian Andrew Dicks (born 8 August 1968) is an English football coach and former footballer who is assistant manager of EFL Championship side Watford. Playing from 1985 until 2002, he was a defender, notably in the Premier League for West ...

and David Burrows. In January 1998 Rowland moved to

(QPR) along with

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

as part of the deal which saw

Trevor Sinclair Trevor Lloyd Sinclair (born 2 March 1973) is an English football coach, professional footballer and pundit. As a player, he was winger who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United and Manchester City. He a ...

move to Upton Park. Rowland made his QPR debut in January 1998 against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and went on to make 56 league appearances, scoring three goals. He stayed at the QPR until August 2001, which included a period on loan, at Luton Town, before moving to Chesterfield on a free transfer. He made only 12 appearances for Chesterfield before signing for Barnet in March 2003. The summer of 2003 saw Rowland's final

appearance before he made his move into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

International career

Rowland gained 19 caps for

scoring one goal in a 1–0 win against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

on 10 October 1998. He was first capped whilst with West Ham making his international debut on 8 September 1993 against

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. His final game came on 9 May 1999 in a 1–0 win against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Coaching career

After coaching at

, Rowland followed manager Rod Stringer to

in May 2010 where he was first-team coach. After managerial contract negotiations failed, he left the club with Stringer in May 2011. On 14 June 2011, Rowland returned to Braintree as Assistant Manager to Alan Devonshire. In January 2016, Rowland was appointed manager of Wingate & Finchley. During Rowland's time at the club, Wingate recorded two record high finishes in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 t ...

Premier Division. On 29 August 2019, Rowland returned to Aveley as manager. He left Aveley in November 2021.Aveley FC – club statement
Aveley FC, 7 November 2021 He was appointed Tilbury manager on 16 November 2021. Rowland left by mutual agreement on 19 February 2022.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Keith 1971 births Living people People from Portadown Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Football managers from Northern Ireland Premier League players AFC Bournemouth players Farnborough F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Dublin City F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. managers Aveley F.C. managers English Football League players Association football defenders Tilbury F.C. managers Association football coaches