Uwe Rosler

Biography and City Career:

Uwe Rosler was born on 15th November 1968 in Altenburg East Germany. At the age of eleven he was enrolled into the Leipzig School of Excellence and throughout his younger years he played for several German clubs as a centre forward. He was playing for FC Nurnberg when he signed for Manchester City for £500,000 in 1994 remaining at the club for four years.

After leaving City in 1998 he played for several clubs in Germany England and Norway before having to retire from playing due to ill health. After his recovery he obtained his coaching badges and moved into club management in 2004 firstly managing in Norway, then England and Sweden. As of 2020 he is managing in Germany.

He is married to a Norwegian and they have two sons the youngest, named Colin after another City great Colin Bell, plays for NAC Breda. Their eldest son is named Tony, after City hero Tony Book.

Signed by manager Brian Horton, Uwe was the first German footballer to play for City since the great Bert Trautman. He immediately became a fans favourite and was nicknamed “Der Bomber”. His goal scoring abilities, bustling style, tenacity, passion and never say die attitude were qualities that endeared him to the City fans.

Although he played for City during a lean period in terms success and club honours, his achievements are worthy of recognition. He helped City avoid relegation in his first season and he went go on to form a great striking partnership with teammate Paul Walsh. He was leading scorer for the club in three consecutive seasons. He scored four goals in the FA Cup tie against Notts County in January 1995 the first City player to achieve this feat since Johnny Hart in 1953 and he won club player of the year in the same season.

City fans adopted the Pet Shop Boys song Go West” to chant his name and this became a famous terrace anthem at Maine Road. Uwe once described his bond with the City fans as the biggest achievement in my career, a bond that still exists to this day.

Notable facts/stories:

Uwe was awarded Manchester City Player Of The Year 1995

Non-City career:

After leaving City Uwe played for several clubs including FC Kaiserslautern, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, and finally Lillestrom.

After winning a personal battle with ill health he went into club management with spells at Lillestrom, Viking, Molde, Brentford, Wigan Athletic, Leeds United, Fleetwood Town, Malmo FF and he currently manages Fortuna Dusseldorf.