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| Full name | Paul Alun Rowley[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 March 1975 Leigh, Greater Manchester, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paul Rowley (born 12 March 1975) is a British rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is the current head-coach of Salford Red Devils. An England representative hooker, he played at club level for Leigh, Halifax and Huddersfield.[2] After retiring as a player, Rowley began a coaching career and was appointed head coach of Leigh in 2012, leading the club to Championship titles in 2014 and 2015 before departing at the beginning of the 2016 season. He subsequently was the head coach of the Toronto Wolfpack in the Betfred Championship.[4]
Rowley was born in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England.
Having begun his career at Leigh, Rowley appeared in the Super League for Halifax and the Huddersfield Giants, returning to his hometown club in 2002. He retired as a player in April 2007 after his 400th career appearance,[9] and joined the coaching staff at Leigh Centurions.
Rowley won caps for England while at Halifax in 1996 against France (sub), and in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup against Australia, Russia, and Ireland.[3]
Rowley was appointed first team coach of Leigh Centurions on a permanent basis in January 2012. After a successful first season in charge which included guiding the club to 2nd in the Championship and a Northern Rail Cup semi-final, Rowley was named Championship Coach of the year. In February 2013 Rowley signed a new contract to keep him at the club until the end of 2015. Having won back-to-back Championship titles with Leigh in 2014 and 2015, Rowley resigned as Leigh Centurions head coach 10 days before the start of the 2016 Championship season, citing personal reasons.[10] On 27 April 2016 he was confirmed as the inaugural head coach of the Toronto Wolfpack.[11]
On 5 November 2021, Rowley was announced as the new head-coach of the Salford Red Devils.[12] In Rowley's first season in charge of Salford, the club started poorly and at one stage were sitting second last on the table before they went on to win eleven games which saw them qualify for the playoffs. After upsetting Huddersfield 28–0 in week one of the playoffs, the club played against St Helens in the semi-final in which they lost 19–12. In the 2023 Super League season, Rowley guided Salford to a 7th-placed finish as the club missed the playoffs by two points.[13]
Paul Rowley is the son of the rugby league prop who played in the 1970s and 1980s for Leigh, Workington Town, St. Helens and Carlisle; Allan Rowley (born 1951 (age 72–73)). Paul Rowley has two sons, Alex and Oliver.[citation needed]