Where Are They Now: Glenn Roeder

In this series at Everything Orient, we take a look back at ex-Orient players and managers and see where their careers have taken them since their departure from Brisbane Road.

This image was provided by the Daily Mail.

Player Profile

Glenn Victor Roederwas born on 13 December 1955 in Woodford, Essex.A talented defender, he had two spells at Leyton Orient, 1973-1978 and 1992, amassing 123 appearances for the club. He also played for Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watford and Gillingham, and represented England B on seven occasions. Roeder’s managerial career included spells with Gillingham, Watford, West Ham United, Newcastle United and Norwich City.

Where Have They Been?

Having failed to earn a scholarship at Arsenal, Roeder’s highly successful playing career started at the O’s, where he made his name as a classy and skilful defender. Joining in 1973, Roeder stayed at the club for five years, making 115 appearances and scoring four goals. He was in the famous ‘braces’ team that played Arsenal in the 1978 FA Cup semi-final.

Speaking about that glorious cup run Roeder said:

“Half of the side had come through the youth system and the other half were good senior players so there was a good blend.

"We were massive underdogs from the third round onwards, but Peter Kitchen had an amazing run in the competition and scored lots of goals.

"Momentum built, especially at Brisbane Road, and you get to a situation where it is easier to be the underdogs than the favourites.

"We suddenly had everything to gain and nothing to lose and that was certainly the attitude that we took in the quarter-final replay against Middlesbrough at Brisbane Road.”

The semi-final against Arsenal took place at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. Although the Gunners won the match 3-0, Roeder believes the O’s didn’t do themselves justice:

“They had a very good team at the time with some amazing players, including Liam Brady. We always felt that we hadn’t completely done ourselves justice though... we could have given them a better game than we did.”

Malcolm Macdonald scored twice for Arsenal, both with deflected shots – one off Roeder and the other off Bill Roffey – with Graham Rix grabbing the third. The following season Roeder moved to Queens Park Rangers.

At QPR, Roeder captained the second tier team in the 1982 FA Cup Final against Tottenham and the following season was part of the team that won the Division 2 title. In all, Roeder spent five years at QPR, amassing 157 appearances and scoring 17 times.

In 1984, Roeder was transferred to Newcastle United, where he had another successful 5-year stay, making close to 200 appearances for the club. Roeder then had a two-year spell at Watford, followed by a return to Leyton Orient in 1992, playing eight games, before finishing his playing career at fourth division side Gillingham, whom he had joined as player-manager.

After one season at Gillingham, helping the club narrowly avoid relegation from the Football League, Roeder joined Watford as manager, replacing Steve Perryman who had left for Tottenham Hotspur. Roeder was sacked in February 1996 with Watford languishing at the foot of the First Division.

There then followed a succession of mostly short-lived managerial positions for Roeder - at Burnley, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and finally Stevenage (as Managerial Advisor). He also worked for a time as a coach for the England national team under Glenn Hoddle.

Whilst at West Ham, Roeder suffered a brain tumour, leading to two years out of the game. This was difficult enough, but on his return to Upton Park as Newcastle boss three seasons later, Roeder was unfortunately subjected to shameful chants of ‘why didn’t you die three years ago’ and branded ‘tumour boy’.