Rowan Vine

Rowan Lewis Vine (born 21 September 1982 in Basingstoke, England) is an English people association footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for Queens Park Rangers F.C..

Football career

Vine made his way up through the Portsmouth F.C. youth scheme and broke into their first team in December 2000, making his debut in a goalless draw with Sheffield United F.C. at the age of 19. However, he struggled to break through into the side on a regular basis and was loaned out to Football League Second Division side Brentford F.C. for the 2002-03 in English football season.

Vine enjoyed a good campaign at Griffin Park, netting his first ever goal on his debut in a 2–0 win at Huddersfield Town F.C., and going on to score 13 goals in 41 starts for the Bees. Despite his impressive season, he was again loaned out, this time to Colchester United F.C. for the 2003-04 in English football campaign. This time he scored 10 league goals in 36 starts.

For the third season running, Vine spent the entire 2004-05 in English football season away from Portsmouth on loan, this time at Luton Town F.C.. Vine's nine goals helped the Hatters clinch the Football League One title. Despite his lack of goals during the season, a section in the "Luton News" newspaper showed that Vine was the "King of Assist (football)s" - the main reason for the Hatters' success.

Vine signed for Luton for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £250,000, on 21 July 2005. His squad number was 9 and he was in competition for places with Warren Feeney, Adam Boyd and Sam Parkin. In his first season after his permanent move to the club, Vine scored 10 goals in 30 games for the club (21 starts, 10 sub appearances) after missing the start of the season with a back injury. Again, he was near the top of the assist charts, proving his worth further to Luton Town.

On 11 January 2007, a £2.5m deal with Birmingham City F.C. saw Vine leave Luton Town, and it is speculated that when Birmingham gained promotion in the 2006-07 in English football season that the deal rose to £3m. The ex-Portsmouth striker turned down the chance to join West Bromwich Albion F.C., and Luton Town also rejected offers from Cardiff City F.C., Sunderland A.F.C. and Norwich City F.C.. Vine's only goal for Birmingham City F.C. came in the 1-0 win over Derby County.

On 2 October 2007 Vine joined Queens Park Rangers F.C. on loan until 3 November 2007;
when this loan period expired it was extended until 1 January 2008.
He joined Queens Park Rangers F.C. on a four-and-a-half-year contract on 8 January 2008 for a fee of around £1m.

Vine is currently injured, having suffered a bone fracture of his tibia and fibula on 3 April 2008. He underwent surgery on the same day and was expected to be out for around six months.