Jim Rodwell (born 20 November 1970) is the former chairman of

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

and also a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played centre-half for the club.

Career

Rodwell began his career playing junior football for Lincoln City and was offered apprentice forms prior to Lincoln being the first team relegated from the football league into the conference in 1987. With uncertainty surrounding the status of Lincoln's players, Rodwell instead undertook his apprenticeship with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. From Darlington, Rodwell went to play football in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

for the Sabah State team. After spells at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, he moved to the non-league pyramid, joining the likes of

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

, Bedworth United,

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

and

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

. In 1995, Rodwell captained the Great Britain University side at the World Student Games in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, Japan. In August 1996, he became Halesowen's record sale when

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

paid £40,000 for his services. An integral part of Rushden's rise up the pyramid into the football league, he was named as the club's player of the year on two occasions. In 2002, Rodwell also came third on ITV's Britain's Brainiest Footballer quiz. Rodwell moved to

in February 2002, helping the Pilgrims into the football league. From Boston, Jim played for Farnborough Town then

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

and finally Tamworth. In January 2004, he returned to

, initially as

Caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

, before taking up a role as

Director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

and eventually becoming Chairman in June 2006. In July 2007, after a turbulent time Rodwell resigned as chairman in the wake of the club being sold to Chestnut Homes. On 11 February 2010 Rodwell became chief executive of

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

after a buyout of County by Ray Trew. Rodwell left Notts County in March 2015 to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Football Club, and then on 22 April 2020 he was announced as chief executive of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. He left that post on 19 February 2021, after Sunderland was taken over by

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (born 18 December 1997) is a Swiss-French businessman. He is a member of the French Louis-Dreyfus family. In February 2021, Louis-Dreyfus became the minority shareholder and Chairman of English Premier League football club, ...

. Rodwell took the job as Interim CEO at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

whilst they searched for a permanent CEO after Bob Symns retirement. From February 2022 until July 2022, Rodwell served as the interim CEO for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Rodwell has sat on the board of both the EFL and the FA Council. On 20 December 2022, Rodwell was named chief operating officer of

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. The failure of a proposed takeover of the club led to Rodwell's departure on 10 February 2023.

References

External links

*
Profile
at the officia
Boston United
site {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodwell, Jim 1970 births Living people Footballers from Lincoln, England Darlington F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players English Football League players Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Nuneaton Town F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League office holders