Kevin Russell (footballer)

Kevin Russell

Personal information
Full name	Kevin John Russell
Date of birth	(1966-12-06) 6 December 1966 (age 57)
Place of birth	Portsmouth, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Huddersfield Town (assistant coach) [1]
Youth career
1982–1984	Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1984	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	(0)
1984–1987	Portsmouth	4	(0)
1987–1989	Wrexham	84	(43)
1989–1992	Leicester City	43	(10)
1990	→ Peterborough United (loan)	7	(3)
1991	→ Cardiff City (loan)	3	(0)
1991	→ Hereford United (loan)	3	(1)
1992	→ Stoke City (loan)	5	(1)
1992–1993	Stoke City	40	(5)
1993–1994	Burnley	28	(6)
1994–1995	AFC Bournemouth	30	(1)
1995	Notts County	11	(0)
1995–2002	Wrexham	198	(17)
Total		456	(87)
International career
1984–1985	England U18	6	(0)
Managerial career
2018–2023	Stoke City U21
2023	Cheltenham Town F.C. (Caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kevin John Russell (born 6 December 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Brighton & Hove Albion, Portsmouth, Wrexham, Leicester City, Peterborough United, Cardiff City, Hereford United, Stoke City, Burnley, AFC Bournemouth and Notts County. He was most recently assistant manager at League One side Cheltenham Town, where he also had a spell as caretaker manager when Wade Elliott was sacked.

Playing career

Kevin Russell was a professional footballer and former England Youth international. ^[2] During a career spanning twenty years he played for eleven clubs. Due to his quiff hairstyle Russell was nicknamed "Rooster" early on in his career; ^[3] ironically he would lose all his hair in his youth and was bald for much of his playing days. ^{[4] [5]} Released by Brighton after an apprenticeship Russell returned to his hometown club Portsmouth but appearances were limited ^[6] He then moved on to Wrexham during the 1987 close season. In the first of his two spells with the club he scored at a rate of just over a goal every two games. ^[7] In 1989, he joined Leicester City, but was loaned out four times. ^[8] However, he fought his way into the first team at the end of the 1991–92 season and became a cult-hero, scoring several important late goals after coming off the bench as he helped fire Leicester to the play-off final, eventually losing to Blackburn Rovers. Despite this, he went to Stoke City at the end of the season. While at Stoke he became a key member of the first team as Stoke won the Second Division title in 1992–93.

After one season at Stoke City, he moved onto Burnley for a fee of £130,000. ^[9] Short spells with AFC Bournemouth and Notts County followed before a move back to the Racecourse Ground. Here, at last, Russell found a permanent home – he was to play nearly 200 more league games for The Robins in a deeper role, eventually being rewarded with a testimonial against Manchester United. ^[10] In his second spell at Wrexham, he was best remembered for his winning goal against West Ham in an FA Cup third round replay in the 1996–97 season. With the tie goalless, Russell scored a 90th-minute goal to dump West Ham out of the cup at Upton Park.

Coaching career

He remained at Wrexham as a coach until being sacked in January 2007. On 12 January 2011, he agreed to rejoin Peterborough United, with Darren Ferguson for a second spell. ^[11] On 18 August 2014, it was confirmed that he rejoined Stoke City as a coach for the Under 21 and Under 18 sides. ^[12] He was promoted to Stoke City U23s manager for the 2018–19 season. ^[13] He left his role with Stoke's under-21s in May 2023. ^[14]

Russell joined Cheltenham Town as assistant manager to Wade Elliott in July 2023. ^[15] Elliott was sacked in September 2023 and Russell took temporary charge ^[16] until superseded by Darrell Clarke with effect from 2 October 2023. ^[17] Eight days later his departure from the club by mutual consent was announced. ^[18]

Career statistics

Source: ^[19]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other [A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Portsmouth	1985–86	Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
	1986–87	Second Division	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	6	0
	Total		4	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	8	0
Wrexham	1987–88	Fourth Division	38	21	2	0	2	1	0	0	42	22
	1988–89	Fourth Division	46	22	2	0	2	0	10	3	60	25
	Total		84	43	4	0	4	1	10	3	102	47
Leicester City	1989–90	Second Division	10	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	1990–91	Second Division	13	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	5
	1991–92	Second Division	20	5	0	0	1	0	5	2	26	7
	Total		43	10	1	0	1	0	5	2	50	12
Peterborough United (loan)	1990–91	Fourth Division	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
Cardiff City (loan)	1990–91	Fourth Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Hereford United (loan)	1991–92	Fourth Division	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1
Stoke City (loan)	1991–92	Third Division	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Stoke City	1992–93	Second Division	40	5	2	0	3	0	5	1	50	6
	Total		45	6	2	0	3	0	5	1	55	7
Burnley	1993–94	Second Division	28	6	4	0	4	1	1	1	37	8
AFC Bournemouth	1993–94	Second Division	17	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
	1994–95	Second Division	13	0	2	1	3	1	0	0	18	2
	Total		30	1	2	1	3	1	0	0	35	3
Notts County	1994–95	First Division	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Wrexham	1995–96	Second Division	40	7	3	0	2	1	2	0	47	8
	1996–97	Second Division	41	0	7	3	1	0	1	0	50	3
	1997–98	Second Division	16	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	19	0
	1998–99	Second Division	31	2	5	1	2	0	6	0	44	3
	1999–2000	Second Division	33	4	5	0	1	0	0	0	39	4
	2000–01	Second Division	26	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	28	4
	2001–02	Second Division	10	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	12	1
	2002–03	Third Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		198	17	23	4	8	2	11	0	240	23
Career Total			456	87	37	5	24	5	35	8	552	105

A.  ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

Honours

Stoke City

• Football League Second Division: 1992–93

Burnley

• Football League Second Division play-offs: 1994

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1988–89 Fourth Division ^[20]

References

1. "Technical staff". Huddersfield Twn A.F.C. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
2. Six u-18 caps in the 1984–85 season AFS DataBase
3. Portsmouth Sports Mail- "Russell to start against Hull": article by Mike Neasom, 14 February 2007
4. - "He’s got no hair but we don’t care, Kevin, Kevin Russell"
5. humorous chant
6. "Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball" Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN   1-874287-25-2
7. "The PFA Premier League and Football League Players' Records 1946–98" Hugman,B: Harpenden, Queen Anne Press, 1998 ISBN   1-85291-585-4
8. Loan details
9. "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 28 June 1993. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
10. "Russell in awe of Utd youngsters". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
11. Sacked from Wrexham
12. "Stoke City: Kevin `Rooster' Russell is back at the club | Stoke Sentinel". www.stokesentinel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
13. "Academy coaching details confirmed". Stoke City. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
14. "Stoke City hero Kevin Russell to leave club after nearly a decade as coach". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
15. "Kevin Russell and Ashley Vincent added to backroom staff". Cheltenham Town. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
16. "Club Statement: Wade Elliott". Cheltenham Town. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
17. "Cheltenham appoint Clarke as new head coach". BBC Sport. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
18. "Kevin Russell departs Cheltenham Town". www.ctfc.com. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
19. Kevin Russell at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
20. Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.

External links

• Kevin Russell at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database