Paul Trollope

Club career

Trollope was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is the son of former Swindon Town defender John Trollope. He began his career at Swindon Town as a trainee, turning professional in December 1989, but failed to make the first team. He joined Torquay United on loan in March 1992 and signed on a free transfer for the Plainmoor side that summer. after 106 league games and 16 goals for Torquay, he was a regular under manager Don O'Riordan and started to attract Premier League clubs and moved to Derby County in December 1994 for a fee of £100,000. He had loan spells with Grimsby Town in August 1996 and Crystal Palace in October 1996. He moved to Fulham in November 1997 for a fee of £600,000. He made ten league appearances during Fulham's 2000–01 season after which they were promoted to the Premier League. However, he left the Cottagers to join Coventry City on a free transfer in March 2002 after losing his place at Craven Cottage. He stayed only a few months at Highfield Road, moving to Northampton Town in July after being released at the end of the season.

International career

In May 1997, Trollope was called up by then Wales manager, Bobby Gould, and made his debut in a 1–0 victory over Scotland at Kilmarnock. While Trollope was never able to hold down a regular place in the Wales national team, he made nine appearances for the senior squad over six years, culminating in March 2003 in a 4–0 home victory over Azerbaijan in the ultimately unsuccessful…

Bristol Rovers

In June 2004 he moved to Bristol Rovers on a free transfer. In his second season, he became caretaker manager and was then appointed first-team coach in a two-tier managerial structure, alongside Director of Football Lennie Lawrence, in November 2005. His first season in charge ended in a respectable midtable position of 12th place in League Two. The following year Rovers reached the Football League Trophy final but lost to Doncaster Rovers. They made up for this loss by winning promotion to League One via the play-offs. In the 2007–08 season, Trollope steered Bristol Rovers to mid-table security after a shaky start. Rovers also made the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 50 years. In September 2009, following more success, he signed a rolling one-year contract under which his title changed to manager. Despite his achievements at the club, he was sacked on 15 December 2010, with Rovers lying in the League One relegation zone. His overall record in charge of the club was 106 wins and 71 draws from 284 games. During his time with the club, Trollope won the EFL League One Manager of the Month award on two occasions, for October 2008 after four wins and one draw from five and September 2009.

Return to coaching

In July 2011, Trollope was appointed first-team coach of Championship club Birmingham City to work with manager Chris Hughton. When Hughton left for Premier League club Norwich City at the end of the season, Trollope went…

As a player

Derby County

Football League First Division second-place promotion: 1995–96 Fulham

Football League First Division: 2000–01 Football League Second Division: 1998–99

As a manager

Bristol Rovers

Football League Two play-offs: 2007 Football League Trophy runner-up: 2006–07 Individual

Football League Two Manager of the Month: April 2007 Football League One Manager of the Month: October 2008, September 2009