| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Leo Rougier[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-07-17)17 July 1971 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Sobo Village, Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1989 | La Brea Angels | ||
| 1990–1992 | Trintoc | ||
| 1992–1993 | United Petrotrin | ||
| 1994 | Trinity Pros | ||
| 1995–1997 | Raith Rovers | 56 | (2) |
| 1997–1999 | Hibernian | 45 | (4) |
| 1999–2000 | Port Vale | 51 | (8) |
| 2000–2003 | Reading | 84 | (6) |
| 2003 | →Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 6 | (2) |
| 2003–2004 | Brentford | 31 | (4) |
| 2004 | Bristol City | 6 | (1) |
| 2004 | Nanjing Yoyo | 14 | (2) |
| 2005 | Rochester Rhinos | 6 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | United Petrotrin | (3) | |
| 2008 | East Stars | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | FC South End | 11 | (4) |
| Total | 310 | (38) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–2005[3] | Trinidad and Tobago | 67 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2011 | FC South End (Technical Director) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Anthony Leo Rougier (born 17 July 1971) is a Trinidadian formerfootballer. A formerinternational with 67 caps to his name, he came close to making the2006 FIFA World Cup team for Trinidad and Tobago.
He played forLa Brea Angels,Trintoc,United Petrotrin, andTrinity Pros before signing with Scottish clubRaith Rovers in March 1995. He helped the club to theFirst Division title in 1994–95 before joiningHibernian in July 1997 for a £250,000 fee. He helped "Hibs" to secure the First Division title in 1998–99, before he was sold on to English clubPort Vale for £175,000 in January 1999. He moved on toReading for £325,000 in August 2000 and helped the "Royals" topromotion out of theSecond Division in 2000–01. He switched toBrentford in May 2003 before joiningBristol City in March 2004. He then had spells in China withNanjing Yoyo and in America withRochester Rhinos before returning to Trinidad to play for United Petrotrin,North East Stars, andFC South End.
Starting his career in his nativeTrinidad and Tobago withLa Brea Angels,Trintoc,United Petrotrin, andTrinity Pros, Rougier switched to the Caribbean forRaith Rovers ofKirkcaldy, Scotland in March 1995. He would have signed forBradford City but could not secure a work permit in time.[4]
He spent the first half of1998–99 with Hibernian, playing eighteen games and scoring once againstMorton. It would prove to be an easy campaign forAlex McLeish's "Hibs", as they eventually finished 23 points clear of second placeFalkirk. Rougier was not atEaster Road for the celebrations, however, having been sold to English clubPort Vale for £175,000 in January 1999. He arrived atVale Park with the club about to suffer adrastic downturn in fortunes as chairmanBill Bell replacedmanagerJohn Rudge withBrian Horton. He made twelve appearances for Vale at the end ofthe season. Rougier scored nine goals in 41 games in1999–2000, becoming a crowd favourite and theclub's top scorer, but it was not enough to prevent the "Valiants" from losing theirFirst Division status.[5] ChairmanBill Bell was not as keen on the player as the supporters, bemoaning Rougier's international commitments by stating "he may have been on the pitch nearly 40 times, but he did not play 40 games".[6]
In August 2000 he was sold on to fellowSecond Division sideReading for £325,000, signing a three-yearcontract.[7] Reading got to the play-off final at the end of the2000–01 season, but Rougier scored anown goal as they lost toWalsall afterextra time.[8]
"He's almost becoming aCantona sort of figure for us, everything's coming off him. And as long asNicky Forster is scoring and others are chipping in, he doesn't need to score."
— Reading managerAlan Pardew speaking in February 2002.[9]
Thefollowing season, the club pushed for a second-successivepromotion, aiming for thePremier League. Rougier wasloaned out toBrighton & Hove Albion late in the season,[10][11] scoring twice for the "Seagulls" in six appearances, leading to speculation of a permanenttransfer.[12] Returning to theMadejski Stadium in time for theplay-offs, he played a part of the semi-final second leg, replacingDarius Henderson after 64 minutes. Eventualplay-off winnersWolverhampton Wanderers beat Reading 3–1 onaggregate. At the end of the campaign, Rougier was not offered a new contract,[13] and instead signed withBrentford.[14]
Rougier played 34 games for Brentford in the2003–04 season before switching toBristol City in late March.[15] On 2 May, his 21st-minute winner overBarnsley proved not enough to catchQueens Park Rangers, though the club had easily qualified for the play-offs. He scored the opener of the semi-final withHartlepool United atVictoria Park, City winning 2–1 on aggregate, beforefalling 1–0 at theMillennium Stadium to his old club Brighton. He was then released by City.[16]
After a short spell withChinese clubNanjing Yoyo and speculation of signing withNorthampton Town in September 2005,[17] he spent a brief period in the US withUSL Pro clubRochester Rhinos. He ended his playing career back in Trinidad with United Petrotrin before becoming a Technical Advisor atNorth East Stars under manager David Farrell in 2008.[18] In 2009, he co-foundedFC South End, which is the newest club to compete in theTT Pro League. In July 2009, he registered himself as a player-coach to boost the fortunes of his struggling side.[18]
Rougier earned 67caps for theTrinidad and Tobago national team between 1995 and 2005, scoring five goals. He served ascaptain on numerous occasions.[19] During this time his country won theCaribbean Cup in1996 and1999, beatingCuba on home soil in the final on both occasions. They also reached the final in1998, but were beaten 2–1 byJamaica. He was also in the squad for the1996 and2000 editions of theCONCACAF Gold Cup.
He was on the 24-man shortlist for the squad for the2006 FIFA World Cup,[20] but was excluded from the final 23. ManagerLeo Beenhakker said: "The guy worked fantastically and he did everything he had to do to try and make it and in the end I had to make a decision."[21]
A "proud and passionateChristian", Rougier used to celebrate goals with aprayer.[4]
"My team-mates found it funny at first. But now that they know me, they understand and respect it. My christian life comes first, my football second. Without Him I couldn't do what I'm doing. I can get strength to achieve anything I want, because with God all things are possible."
— Rougier speaking on his religious views.[4]
He advised good friend and fellow footballerDwight Yorke to "calm down a bit with the ladies" following Yorke's love life being splashed across the British tabloids.[4] He grew up next door tocricketerGus Logie and worked at anairport inNew York City before trying his luck with football in England.[4]
Rougier is a lifelongteetotaler. On multiple occasions during his playing career, he was awarded a bottle of champagne for winning theman of the match award, only to refuse it and hand it back to the organisers.[22]
His family include his wife Trisha and daughters Alishia-Kae and Maya-Kai.[23]
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Raith Rovers | 1996–97[24] | Scottish Premier League | 29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 31 | 4 | |
| Hibernian | 1997–98[25] | Scottish Premier League | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 31 | 3 | |
| 1998–99[26] | Scottish First Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| Total | 45 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 49 | 4 | |||
| Port Vale | 1998–99[26] | First Division | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 1999–2000[27] | First Division | 38 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 41 | 9 | ||
| Total | 51 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 54 | 9 | |||
| Reading | 2000–01[28] | Second Division | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| 2001–02[29] | Second Division | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 2002–03[30] | First Division | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 22 | 3 | |
| Total | 86 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 99 | 6 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 2002–03[30] | First Division | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | 6 | 2 | |||
| Brentford | 2003–04[31] | Second Division | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 34 | 5 |
| Bristol City | 2003–04[31] | Second Division | 6 | 1 | — | — | 3[c] | 1 | 9 | 2 | ||
| Nanjing Yoyo | 2004[32] | China League One | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 2 | ||
| Rochester Rhinos | 2005[32] | USL First Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 274 | 28 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 1 | !9 | 1 | 301 | 32 | ||
| Trinidad and Tobago national team[3] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | 10 | 2 |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | 8 | 0 |
| 1999 | 9 | 1 |
| 2000 | 11 | 1 |
| 2001 | 8 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 10 | 1 |
| 2005 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | 67 | 5 |
Trinidad and Tobago squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
