Kevin Russell (footballer)

Kevin Russell

Personal information
Full name	Kevin John Russell
Date of birth	6 December 1966
Place of birth	Paulsgrove, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Striker
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	Bournemouth	30	(1)
1995	Notts County	11	(0)
1995–2002	Wrexham	198	(17)
Total		456	(87)
National team
1984–1985	England U18	6	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (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, Bournemouth and Notts County.

Career

A former England Youth international,^[1] Russell (nicknamed Rooster early in his career because of his quiff^[2]); later to lose all his hair^[3]) was a professional footballer who played for 11 clubs in a career spanning nearly 20 years. Released by Brighton after an apprenticeship Russell returned to his hometown club Portsmouth but appearances were limited^[4] 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.^[5] In 1989 he joined Leicester City, but was loaned out four times.^[6] 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.^[7] Short spells with 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.^[8] 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. He remained at the club until being sacked in January 2007. On 12 January 2011, he agreed to rejoin Peterborough United, with Darren Ferguson for a second spell.^[9] On 18 August 2014, it was confirmed that he rejoined Stoke City as a coach for the Under 21 and Under 18 sides.^[10]

Honours

Stoke City

• Football League Second Division champions: 1992–93

Burnley

• Football League Second Division play-offs winner: 1994

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

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
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
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
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
Burnley	1993–94	Second Division	28	6	4	0	4	1	1	1	37	8
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
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
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.

References

1. Six u-18 caps in the 1984–85 season AFS DataBase
2. Portsmouth Sports Mail- "Russell to start against Hull": article by Mike Neasom, 14 February 2007
3. humorous chant
4. "Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball" Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN 1-874287-25-2
5. "The PFA Premier League and Football League Players’ Records 1946–98" Hugman,B: Harpenden, Queen Anne Press, 1998 ISBN 1-85291-585-4
6. Loan details
7. "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). 28 June 1993. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
8. "Russell in awe of Utd youngsters". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 3 August 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
9. Sacked from Wrexham

External links

• Kevin Russell stats at Neil Brown stat site