TIVVY ARCHIVE

Martyn Rogers

07/03/1955

As a player Rogers was a solid right-back and the most successful part of his career saw him as part of the Exeter City team who famously beat Newcastle United in the FA Cup in 1981. He also played for two seasons at Conference club Weymouth and then moved on to Gloucester City before joining Tiverton in the summer of 1988 alongside his cousin Peter Rogers.

Martyn soon assumed the role of Assistant Manager to John Owen as well as continuing as a player, and when Owen stepped down at the end of the 1990/91 season he was the natural successor. He went about building on the foundations of his predecessor and soon masterminded Tiverton’s first trip to Wembley on the back of some astounding victories against higher-ranked teams.

An unprecedented period of success followed and Rogers guided Tivvy to four Western League titles, two FA Vase wins and six appearances in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup. In 1999, having successfully defended the FA Vase on what was his third visit to Wembley, Rogers was awarded a well-deserved testimonial match against Wolverhampton Wanderers for which over 1,500 fans crammed into Ladysmead to show their appreciation. Tivvy chairman Dave Wright summed Martyn Rogers' contribution to the Tiverton success story in the programme, where he quipped: "No-one doubted Martyn's defensive abilities (on arriving at Tiverton). All the supporters with stiff necks constantly looking skywards hoping to catch a glimpse of one of Martyn's clearances were not to know they were looking at the limit to this man's ability!"

Rogers remained as manager at Tiverton until May 2010 and passed the memorable mark of 1,000 competitive games in charge of the club earlier that year in a 1-1 draw at Didcot Town. After a brief sabbatical he then returned to the game with a short tenure as manager of Weymouth, a spell that included an emotional 4-0 win against Tiverton, and in 2012 he was appointed as Assistant Manager at fierce rivals of the 1990s Taunton Town. He remained at Wordsworth Drive for a year before stepping down as he wished to return to management, and very briefly took up that role with Cullompton Rangers before being reappointed as Tiverton boss in May 2014.