Glenn Roeder Bio: Career, Family, Awards & Brain Tumour

Have we ever discussed how we at times lose our old heroes with the addition of every contender?

Well, a natural phenomenon, but it still leaves a deep scar every time such is to occur. A tribute to our former gentleman and football legend, Glenn Roeder.

A defender as a player, football manager later, Glenn did have a successful career in the field.

Roeder featured with teams like Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Watford, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, and Leyton Orient during his playing career. 

With his retirement as a player, Roeder then shifted to be the manager. He managed teams like Gillingham, Watford, West Ham United, Newcastle United, and Norwich City during his tenure. 

However, on this ground today, we were to lose him after his silent battle with a brain tumor.

Before portraying his life and achievements in the article, we express our silent condolences to his family and dear ones. 

Quick Facts:

Glenn Roeder | Early Life

Roeder (fully named Glenn Victor Roeder) was born on 13 December 1955, under Sagittarius’ sun sign in Essex, Woodford, England.

Unfortunately, there is no information about his family background and childhood days. 

However, it is known that Roeder commenced his playing career early in his life. In fact, his famous “the step-over -the Roeder shuffle” was taught by his father when he was a child. 

Playing Career 

Apparently, Roeder devoted two decades from his life to the football arena as a defender.

Initially, he commenced his journey through his school days while playing for the clubs in his native land and Gidea Park Rangers.

Not to mention, he had also played for his school, and it wasn’t long after he joined the Arsenal Football Cup.

During this tenure, he couldn’t claim the scholarship opportunity and thus, moved forward to be in the professional team at Leyton Orient.

Apparently, the year 1978 came in a good way as he became part of the FA Cup semi-final.

That very year, he successfully gained the Queen Park Rangers’ attention, and he moved in with the deal worth £250,000 in August. 

By the end of his tenure with the team, he was also the FA Cup Final captain against Tottenham.

Overall, he had made 157 appearances with the team until he was loaned to Notts County for a brief moment.  

Following it, he played for Newcastle United after signing a contract worth £125,000 and spent five years with them.

As he played for the team, he gained promotion from the Second Division in 1984. 

Advancing on, Roeder featured for the Watford on a free transfer, where he was only playing for two years.

After 78 appearances for the team, he moved to play for Leyton Orient, his former team. 

Lastly, he ended his professional career as a defender at Gillingham, making 37 appearances.

As a matter of fact, he first entered the team as player-manager, with both roles. 

Overall, his playing career ended in 1993, and until then, he had appeared in 561 games, where he had 31 goals altogether. 

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Glenn Roeder | Coach & Manager

Roeder only came down and left the arena as a player to be returned as a coach and manager.

Apparently, he eased himself towards the management first as player-manager of Gillingham. 

Gillingham

With Gillingham, Roeder starred in 37 games, of which ten of them were victories on their side.

Back then, he carried the team from the bottom half to finish second in the Football League. 

Watford

In July 1993, Roeder resigned from the Gillingham to coach Watford as the replacement of Steve Perryman.

In fact, the first half of when he was hired didn’t go well as Watford was fined £10,000 for an illegal approach. 

Later in the other season, Roeder struggled greatly after he couldn’t restore Watford from the bottom.

Hence, he was on the verge of ending his career in 1996. However, he successfully took the turn to hiring Kevin Phillips from non-league Baldock Town for £10,000.

“When no-one else would give me that chance, Glenn took a chance on me, and I owe him everything I’ve earned in my career.”
-Kevin Phillips 

Following it, Roeder worked under the shade before fully emerging himself.

During his tenure till 1999, he starred as Chris Waddle’s assistant manager at Burnley, where he was present for only a season. 

Besides it, he even worked for England’s National Team alongside coach Glenn Hoddle.

West Ham United

In 1999, West Ham manager Harry Redknapp initially offered him to coach the team.

However, Roeder started as a manager in the summer of 2001 with the Premier League after Redknapp left the team.

Besides that, he was also well known as an Aston Villa scout and even signed goalkeeper David James from Aston Villa. 

In the interval of time, there were controversial grounds when he replaced Redknapp.

But, as he joined the team, Roeder led West Ham to a seventh position at first in the league. Also, in the meantime, he hired many players. 

However, coming to the next season, Roeder struggled with the team as one of his players (Tomáš Řepka) continuously had serious disciplinary problems.

Within 31 appearances, he had amassed ten yellow cards and one red card. 

During the very year, he couldn’t save the team from downfall and even got in an argument with the striker.

All in all, he had to end the season, with his illness discovered, a brain tumor. 

Thus, Trevor Brooking replaced him for the rest of the season in 2003 as Roeder took a break from the arena. Overall, he was sacked away the same year in August. 

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Newcastle United

Roeder did have a long break of two years from the field until he returned in 2005 with Newcastle United.

In the beginning, he was featured as the caretake manager with striker Alan Shearer; however, he was eventually turning the tables for the team. 

Herewith, he was named the first in the line to be a full-time team manager. However, he was yet to gain the mandatory UEFA Pro Licence due to his tumor.

Altogether, the team requested Premier League to let Roeder feature without the license, which was first rejected. 

All in all, Roeder got the chance with the votes and signed a two-year’s contract with Kevin Bond as his assistant. In the latter half, he had a new assistant manager Nigel Pearson.

Even though they achieved a great feat with the team, they did fall under the criticisms of having inexperienced players in the team.

As they held a board meeting, Roeder gave his immediate resignation from the team regarding the situation. Thus, Sam Allardyce replaced Roeder in the team. 

Norwich City

In 2007, Roeder signed with Norwich City and started working right with the East Anglian derby match.

However, his foremost win only came over Coventry City. Following it, he took down Blackpool, lymouth Argyle, Sheffield United, Scunthorpe United, and so on. 

He had released and signed many players during his tenure until he found the one to take the team’s future in hand.

Also, he became no stranger to controversies as he was fined for criticizing referee Andy D’Urso. 

Later, he didn’t renew Dareen Huckerby’s contract, and thus, the team fell into despair.

Although Roeder managed to win the league games, it didn’t keep the team on track; hence, he was sacked. 

Stevenage Managerial Advisor

Before entering the Stevenage in 2016, he first starred in the Sheffield Wednesday as an advisor.

When he became the managerial advisor for the team, he served two years in the Stevenage. 

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Glenn Roeder | Controversies

Alongside what he has achieved to date, Roeder has also been on controversial grounds many times.

Like during the times, he was criticized for Newcastle’s situation. However, many people seemed to cherish the decision even after his resignation. 

Argument With Striker Paolo Di Canio

Back in February 2003, Roeder had substituted striker Paolo Di Canio in a match against West Bromwich Albion.

Right then, Canio defended himself over Roeder, which caused the two to have a stormy relationship. 

Apparently, Roeder stated that Canio had put the dressing room in trouble and created problems.

However, Canio defended himself, stating Roeder was acting under pressure as the team wasn’t performing well. 

“Although I don’t want to be arrogant, I was not here for four months, and the team did badly. What can I do? How can I have increased the pressure? I said things last year, and we finished seventh; there were no problems. Why am I the problem now?”
-Paolo Di Canio

Fined for Criticizing Referee Andy D’Urso

During July 2008’s Norwich City’s match against the Bristol City at Ashton Gate Stadium, Roeder was criticized and fined for his actions.

As improper misconduct of the behavior, Roder and assistant Lee Clark had to pay £1,000 and was suspended for two matches. 

As the story goes, they reacted angrily to Bristol City being awarded a 91st-minute free-kick. After the match, Roeder went to the Ashton Gate pitch and confronted the referee Andy D’Urso.

In addition to that, The FA conducted FA disciplinary hearing where they both were warned for their future conduct.

Additionally, as Roeder received a £1,000 fine and a two-match touchline ban, Clark had a £500 fine and a one-match touchline ban. 

Glenn Roeder | Family 

Apart from being a professional in the football arena, Glenn Roeder is also a family man, a husband, and a father.

Roeder used to be a private man; he never disclosed much about his family and wife or his personal life. 

Additionally, Roeder didn’t use to be any social media user; thus, he has no accounts. Roeder’s wife is Faith Roeder, and the duo shares three children.

Among the children, they have a daughter named Holly Roeder and two sons named Will Roeder and Joe Roeder. 

Glenn Roeder | Death

On 28 February 2021, Glenn Roeder took his last breath after an 18-year battle with a diagnosed brain tumor at the age of 65.

Apparently, he first knew about his illness back in 2003 during his tenure with West Ham United. 

As we all know, Roeder is one of the most admired coaches, a true gentleman on and off the field.

Glenn earned the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup alongside Newcastle United during his tenure as a manager. 

Similarly, he was also featured as the Premier League Manager of the Month in March 2003. 

Furthermore, Roeder’s death news was first confirmed by the League Manager’s Association’s (LMA) Chief Executive Richard Bevan. So with it, he had even paid tribute to Roeder. 

“He will be sorely missed by all of the LMA’s members and his colleagues from across the game. Our heartfelt thoughts are with Glenn’s wife Faith, his daughter Holly, his sons Will and Joe, and all of Glenn’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
-LMA’s Chief Executive Richard Bevan

Many are paying tribute to the legend; it includes his former Newcastle United colleagues Alan Shearer and Terry McDermott. 

Shearer retweeted a post about Roeder’s Death with the caption, “So sad. A fantastic man. RIP Glenn.” Alan also talked about his late colleague on BBC Sport and expressed how he hoped to meet him.

He talked very highly of Glenn and elaborated how, besides being a great player and manager for Newcastle United, he was also a very kind and caring person overall. 

Likewise, Terry tweeted a post with the caption,

“Really sad to hear the passing of Glenn Roeder, was a great man to play alongside and work under when he became manager, thoughts with all of his family.”

Furthermore, former footballer turned commentator Don Hutchinson also paid tribute to the late Roeder and revealed how Glenn supported him when his father passed away. 

Some FAQs:

What is Gleen Roeder Net Worth?

Glenn Roeder has amassed a net worth of $3 million to date. 

Were Paul Gascoigne and Glenn Roeder close?

Yes, the two had a very special relationship. Roder was like a father figure to the then up-and-coming attacking midfielder Paul Gascoigne and cared for him while at Newcastle. 

Did Gleen Roeder have a heart attack in 2003?

In 2003, it was initially thought that Gleen Roeder had suffered a heart attack after collapsing and complaining of chest pains 90 minutes during the game against Middlesbrough.

However, after conducting several tests, it was confirmed that there was a blockage of a minor blood vessel in his brain, resulting in the brain tumor.