The former Newbury Town winger has quit as Celtic boss

Brendan Rodgers ended his second spell as Celtic boss after more than two and a half years in which he won two Scottish Premiership titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup.

As a manager, Rodgers has made his mark north of the border as well as at Leicester City where he won the FA Cup. Born in Northern Ireland, Rodgers first made his name in the world of football while playing as an 18-year-old defender at Reading and Newbury Town.

Keith Moss, Newbury boss when the club was in the Isthmian League, spoke to The Sun in 2019 when Rodgers was Leicester City boss: “Brendan is a good left winger but it is his strategy and game plan that sets him apart.

“There were times when I couldn’t keep up.

“Many times I asked him and picked his young brain without him realizing it.

“I’m his manager and he’s still a young man and I’m learning from him. Thank you, Brendan!”

According to the article, Rodgers actually lived at the Faraday Road ground in Newbury, marking the pitch with shaky white lines, helping a carpenter build the clubhouse bar and talking endlessly to Moss about selection and systems – and always with a big smile on his face.

Rodgers’ career was curtailed early on due to a genetic knee injury. His work ethic saw it through

recommended to Chelsea by Jose Mourinho’s assistant and future Scotland manager Steve Clarke. He climbed the ladder at the West London outfit before taking over as manager at Watford and then replacing Steve Coppell at Reading.

He later managed Swansea City, Liverpool and Leicester in both spells at Celtic.

Football at Newbury has undergone little change since Rodgers’ glory days at the club. Newbury Town progressed through the divisions and reached the FA Vase Quarter Finals in the mid-1990s before folding in 1995.

Since then several attempts to rejuvenate senior football in West Berkshire’s largest town have been made. New teams, promotions and the loss of the club’s famous Faraday Road ground have been a story over the past three decades, one that will be familiar to followers of the non-league game.

The club is back at Faraday Road, the club’s most successful recent manager, Danny Langford, is now chairman and crucially the team appears to have the backing of the Liberal Democrat-led board – in fact these were the party’s three main promises in the election manifesto that saw them oust the Conservatives at the 2024 election.

Read more about the future of football in Newbury here.