Martin Rowlands

Martin Rowlands

Personal information
Full name	Martin Charles Rowlands
Date of birth	8 February 1979 (1979-02-08)
Place of birth	Hammersmith, London, England
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Queens Park Rangers
Number	38
Youth career
1995–1997	Wycombe Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–1998	Farnborough Town	39	(7)
1998–2003	Brentford	152	(20)
2003–	Queens Park Rangers	198	(33)
2011	→ Millwall (loan)	1	(0)
2011	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	10	(0)
National team‡
2004–2009	Republic of Ireland	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:06, 1 October 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2009

Martin Charles Rowlands (born 8 February 1979) is an English-born Irish footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers. He formerly played for Brentford F.C

Club career

After starring for Kilburn Gaels GAA club at underage level, Rowlands started his football career at Wycombe Wanderers, but did not earn a professional contract and joined Farnborough Town in 1997 before moving to Brentford in August 1998 for a transfer fee of £45,000. In five season with Brentford, he made 186 appearances in all competitions, scoring 23 goals.

After suffering a broken leg, QPR manager Ian Holloway took a gamble on Rowlands and signed him on a free transfer from local rivals Brentford in the summer of 2003. This gamble paid off, as Rowlands scored 12 goals from midfield, helping his new side to promotion from the Second Division. That season, Rowlands also showed versatility, playing right back, right midfield, left midfield and centre midfield; excelling in all positions. He won both the supporters and players' player of the year competitions. However, the move proved controversial, resulting in Rowlands becoming a hate figure amongst Brentford supporters. During the derby match that season, Rowlands taunted Bees fans throughout, repeatedly kissing the QPR badge with the intention of goading supporters of his former club.

Since then, Rowlands has suffered many injuries and has never truly recaptured his outstanding form of 2003/04. However, in 2006/07 he managed to score 10 goals from midfield.

In 2007/08 he was selected captain, and was regularly among Rangers` best performers. He played 43 league games, scoring 6 goals, including a memorable brace in Rangers' 4–2 victory at Watford. He won both the Supporters' Player of the Year and the Ray Jones Players' Player of the Year award. As of January 2012 Rowlands was the longest-serving member of the QPR squad having spent 9 years at the club.

On 25 February 2011 Rowlands signed for Millwall, on an emergency one month loan, after only playing 23 minutes of competitive football for QPR in the 2010/11 season.

International career

Following good displays with QPR, Rowlands was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad in the summer of 2004, playing two games. His good club form in season 2007/2008 and his subsequent player of the year awards with QPR led to Rowlands being included in Giovanni Trappatoni's first Republic of Ireland squad.

After a substitute appearance against Italy in Ireland's penultimate qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup, Rowlands was chosen to start for Ireland against Montenegro in their final group game.

On 14 October 2009, he injured his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the Republic of Ireland v Montenegro, resulting in him being ruled out of the rest of the 2009/10 season for QPR.

Honours

Brentford

• Football League Third Division winner: 1998–99
• Football League Trophy runner-up: 2001

Queens Park Rangers

• Football League Second Division runner up: 2003–2004

External links

• Martin Rowlands player profile at qpr.co.uk
• Martin Rowlands career stats at Soccerbase
• Martin Rowlands at National-Football-Teams.com