Martin Rowlands!

[concanta]

What position does he play...he seems to be doing very well at QPR
Heard rumours that Fulham and Everton were looking at him - would be awesome for him to be in PL. Unfortuneately I think he is a left midfielder which is the one position we have enough of

[eirebhoy]

Right midfielder.

[Bowsy]

I think he is left footed but sounds very adaptable by the account below. Has an awesome record for QPR and a move to the premiership would be great news.


"Martin Rowlands joined QPR on a free transfer from Brentford in the summer of 2003.

Martin Rowlands ended a fantastic first season at QPR by being voted the player of the year by users of this web site. Rowlands has already won all the Official player of the year awards as well as the LSA and A Kick up the R's awards and he easily beat off competition from Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong to win this one.

Rowlands first season at QPR really couldn't have gone any better but a year ago his future looked bleak. A move to QPR broke down in March 2003 as Brentford insisted they wanted to keep him to make sure they stayed up. Rowlands scored in the win that got them the magic 50 points needed to stay up but then broke his leg.

As he lay in the hospital Brentford never contacted him and he was released and out of a job. Thankfully for us Ian Holloway went to visit the player and told him he'd sign him when he got fit.Rowlands spent the summer working hard seeing light at the end of the tunnel and he signed for Rangers after making a very quick recovery from his injury.

Most fans first glimpse of him in a QPR shirt came in a pre season game against Charlton. His brief substitute appearance had fans on the edge of their seats. He got stuck in and looked a very creative player on the left wing, which was one of several positions, he would play in during the season.

He made his league debut for Rangers as a late substitute in the 5-0 win over Blackpool on the opening day of the season and soon had his first start replacing the injured Gareth Ainsworth on the right wing against Brighton. Rowlands gave a good account of himself using the ball well and he looked like he had the potential to go on and have a great season.

He was soon in a very alien position though. Terrell Forbes injury and sending off meant he was needed as a right back for the next few games. Rowlands took to his new role as if he had been playing right back all of his life. He was comfortable on the ball and added a new attacking dimension to us as he brought the ball out of defence rather than hoofing it forward. His overlapping on the right created many chances for us but defensively he was sometimes found wanting which was only to be expected.

After a successful run in that position he was moved into central midfield for the second half at Wrexham. Rowlands impressed in that position and grabbed his first goal for the club. A cracking solo effort in the 90th minute to give us our first away win of the season. Rowlands continued to see himself moved around playing on the left wing, right wing, central midfield and right back and performed excellently in all of them. It wasn't until November though that he found his new home on the right wing, which became a regular role for him.

He was able to create chances and score goals from that position and he had licensed to roam into the middle, which really seemed to suit him. As results got better and better so did Rowlands performances and he became a key player.

When he faced up to his old team mates Brentford he came in for loads of stick from the away fans but rose above it to deliver a superb performance and help the team to a 1-0 win. The support he got that night seemed to help build his confidence and he's never looked back.

Consistently Rowlands was the star man for Rangers creating goals and scoring them. When Tony Thorpe got injured in January goals became hard to come by but it was Rowlands who grabbed a vital winner at Blackpool and a goal of the season contender to beat Brighton. Whenever Rangers needed someone to create or get a goal Rowlands was usually the man. As Port Vale grabbed a 90th minute equaliser against us in March, it was Rowlands who went up the other end straight from the kick off, beat his man and put in a perfect cross for Cureton to win us three points.

Injury and suspension hampered the end of the season for Rowlands but he was once again brilliant scoring and causing mayhem in the 1-1 draw with Stockport. He grabbed the only goal of the game to beat Swindon. Then on the last day of the season he was excellent again and despite playing with pain he ran down the line and crossed for Chris Carr to score and own goal and book us our place in division one.

It was a fitting end to a dream season for Rowlands and away from home he was usually our match winner. Out of Rangers six away wins, Rowlands scored in four of them and created a goal in another. The only win he didn't have a big role in was Grimsby away which saw him play at right back.

Rowlands even earned a call up and three caps for the Republic of Ireland shortly after picking up his runners up medal for QPR's promotion. Rowlands season couldn't have gone much better and he is already being linked with Premiership clubs as he looks to make the next step up to division one.

Rowlands signed a new two year contract in the summer of 2004 after gaining his first caps for the Republic of Ireland"