Gary Rowett has been appointed Oxford United’s new Men’s Head Coach, as he takes on the role with the sixth club of his exceptional managerical career to date.
Rowett’s first official game in charge will come on Boxing Day for the home fixture against Cardiff City, in front of what is expected to be another sold-out OX4, before taking on Plymouth Argyle three days later.
You can make sure you're at the Kassam to see Gary Rowett's side in action by purchasing tickets HERE.
With 12 years of experience in the EFL, Rowett is the most experienced Championship head coach in the division with 370 games, and more than 500 across his whole career.
Here, we look back through his career to learn more about the journey to Oxford United.
Burton Albion
Following an extensive playing career as a defender with Cambridge Untied, Everton, Derby County, Birmingham City, Leicester City, Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion, it was at the latter where he started his managerial career.
Initially joining Burton as a coach, he was given the permanent managerial job in 2012 and over two years he took the Brewers to the League Two Play-Off semi-final, and then the following year to the final at Wembley.
Birmingham City
Two successful seasons at Burton Albion led to suitors elsewhere, and in October 2014 Rowett joined his former side Birmingham City.
He joined the Blues in the relegation zone in the Championship, but by the end of the season Birmingham sat in 10th place.
After an incredibly strong start to the next season, with the club sitting in seventh, he was replaced by Gianfranco Zola, but Birmingham then slipped down the table and narrowly escaped relegation.
Derby County
Another former side from his playing career was next on the managerial CV, and in his first season he helped Derby finish 9th.
By Christmas of the next season, Derby was sitting in second place, with Rowett winning two Championship Manager of the Month awards, before ending the season in the Play-Off spots and losing to Fulham in the semi-finals.
Stoke City
In the summer of 2018, Gary left Derby to join Stoke City, but it was a short spell in the North West. In what was the Potters’ first season back in the Championship, Rowett moved on in January 2019, before having years of success with his next side.
Millwall
Later that year, Rowett joined Millwall, where he would end up staying for four successful years.
In three full seasons, he finished 8th, 11th and 9th, constantly battling with Millwall to finish around the play-off spots as he developed an extremely competitive and well-balanced Championship team.
In his final full season, Millwall narrowly missed out on the play-offs on the final game of the season, and Rowett left by mutual consent a few months into the next campaign.
Birmingham City
With Birmingham facing relegation last season to League One, Rowett stepped in for the final eight games interim charge after Tony Mowbray took medical leave.
Despite 11 points from the final eight games – remaining undefeated in the final four – Birmingham couldn’t escape relegation, going down on the final day with a 1-0 win over Norwich City.
