Rowan Vine

Rowan Lewis Vine (born 21 September 1982) is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a striker.

Career

Born in Basingstoke, Vine began his career at Portsmouth, making his way through the club's youth scheme. He made his first-team debut in a goalless draw with Sheffield United in December 2000 at the age of 18. However, he struggled to break through into the side on a regular basis and was loaned out to Division Two side Brentford for the 2002–03 season.

Vine enjoyed a successful campaign at Griffin Park, netting his first ever goal on his debut in a 2–0 win at Huddersfield Town, and going on to score 13 further goals in 44 starts for the Bees. Despite his impressive season, he was again loaned out, this time to Colchester United for the 2003–04 campaign where he scored 10 league goals in 30 starts.

For the third year running, Vine spent an entire season away from Portsmouth on loan, this time at Luton Town for the 2004–05 season. Vine's nine goals helped the Hatters clinch the League One title. Despite this relative lack of goals for a striker during a season, a section in the Luton News newspaper showed that Vine was the "King of Assist" – one of the main reasons for the Hatters' success.

Vine signed for Luton for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £250,000, on...
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