47 Facts About Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers was born on 26 January 1973 and is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player.

Brendan Rodgers remained at Reading as a coach and then academy director, and continued to play non-league football at Newport, Witney Town and Newbury Town for several years.

Brendan Rodgers left the club by mutual consent after some disappointing results six months later.

Brendan Rodgers returned to management with Swansea City in 2010, leading the club to promotion to the Premier League, the first Welsh team to do so, before guiding them to finish 11th the following season.

Brendan Rodgers became manager of Celtic in May 2016 and led Celtic to an undefeated domestic season in his first year, and trebles in both of his first two seasons.

Brendan Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester City in February 2019, winning the 2021 FA Cup in his second full season, before he left by mutual consent in April 2023.

Brendan Rodgers was born in the seaside village of Carnlough in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Brendan Rodgers's father Malachy was a painter and decorator, while his mother Christina was a volunteer for the Irish charity Trocaire.

Brendan Rodgers grew up as a supporter of Sheffield Wednesday and Celtic.

Brendan Rodgers attended St John's Catholic Primary School in Carnlough, and then moved on to St Patrick's College in Ballymena until the age of 16.

Brendan Rodgers's mother died in 2010 at the age of 53, and in September 2011 Rodgers was by his father's side when he died of cancer, aged 59.

Brendan Rodgers began his senior career as a defender for Ballymena United, his local team, in 1987.

Brendan Rodgers's professional playing career was ended when he was 20, due to a genetic knee condition.

Brendan Rodgers found employment at John Lewis to support his young family.

Brendan Rodgers spent a large amount of time travelling around Spain studying different coaching methods, and was eventually invited by manager Jose Mourinho to leave his role of academy director at Reading and join the Chelsea Academy as their head youth coach in 2004 after a recommendation by Mourinho's assistant and future Premier League manager Steve Clarke.

Brendan Rodgers was promoted to reserve team manager two years later, and was kept in that position by subsequent Chelsea managers Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari.

On 24 November 2008, Brendan Rodgers left Chelsea to become the manager of Championship club Watford.

Watford's form dramatically improved and Brendan Rodgers was able to guide them to finish 13th, avoiding relegation.

Weeks after guaranteeing Watford's survival, and following the resignation of Steve Coppell as Reading manager, Brendan Rodgers quickly became the favourite to succeed him and rejoin his old club.

Brendan Rodgers initially distanced himself from reports linking him with the job, saying that his "concentration fully on Watford".

Brendan Rodgers accepted an offer to become the manager of Championship side Swansea City on 16 July 2010.

Brendan Rodgers's beginning as Swansea manager was very successful, leading to Rodgers being named the Championship Manager of the Month for February 2011 after Swansea won five out of the six league games they played that month, while keeping four clean sheets.

On 16 May 2011, Brendan Rodgers led Swansea to the 2011 Championship Play-Off final as the favourites after defeating underdogs Nottingham Forest over two legs in the semi-final.

Brendan Rodgers was praised by the media and supporters for consoling Reading manager Brian McDermott and owner John Madejski before receiving the trophy.

In February, Brendan Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015.

On 1 June 2012, Brendan Rodgers was unveiled as the new Liverpool manager on a three-year contract, following the departure of Kenny Dalglish two weeks prior.

Brendan Rodgers' appointment was immediately endorsed by former colleague and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

In July 2012, Brendan Rodgers wrote an open letter to the Swansea City supporters, thanking both the staff and supporters for his time at the club, and wishing them well for the future.

Days later, Brendan Rodgers held his first training session at Melwood as the squad reported back for pre-season training.

Brendan Rodgers was later named Manager of the Month for the second time that season for March 2014, after Liverpool won all five of their games that month to go top of the Premier League.

Later that month, Brendan Rodgers was named the LMA Manager of the Year, becoming the first Liverpool manager to win the accolade in its 20-year history.

On 26 May 2014, Brendan Rodgers signed a new four-year contract at Liverpool.

Just one hour after the game, Brendan Rodgers was sacked, leaving Liverpool in tenth place after eight matches played.

Brendan Rodgers was appointed manager of Scottish Premiership champions Celtic on a 12-month rolling contract on 20 May 2016, following the exit of Ronny Deila.

On 31 December 2016, Brendan Rodgers became the first manager in Celtic history to win his opening three games against Rangers.

Five days later, Brendan Rodgers signed a new four-year contract with Celtic.

Brendan Rodgers became the first manager in the club's history to win his first four domestic trophies and stretch the unbeaten domestic record to 65 games.

Brendan Rodgers said that he turned down an approach from a Chinese club during the summer of 2018.

In February 2019, with Celtic leading the Premiership by eight points, Brendan Rodgers departed Celtic, joining English Premier League club Leicester City.

In February 2019, Brendan Rodgers was appointed manager of Leicester City, following the sacking of Claude Puel.

On 6 December 2019, Brendan Rodgers signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2025.

The Foxes continued to struggle after the season resumed, and Brendan Rodgers conceded he understood fans frustrations after chants against him from some away fans.

Brendan Rodgers believes in his teams keeping possession of the ball and playing a flowing passing and attacking game with the ball always moving; defensively, he likes his team to put a lot of pressure on the opposing team.

Brendan Rodgers separated from his wife, Susan, in the summer of 2014; the couple divorced in December 2015.

Brendan Rodgers got engaged to Charlotte Searle in February 2016, and they married in June 2017.

Brendan Rodgers's nickname is "Buck Rodgers", after the comic strip character Buck Rogers.

Brendan Rodgers likened his breathing difficulties to the altitude when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.