Wycombe Official Site
ROWLANDS RETURNS
Posted on: Mon 26 Sep 2011
Midfielder Martin Rowlands has returned to Adams Park after a 14-year absence, agreeing a three-month loan deal from Queens Park Rangers to be reunited with Wanderers manager Gary Waddock.
The 32-year-old is currently the Rs' longest-serving midfielder, having racked up over 200 appearances for the club since moving from Brentford in 2003.
However, he was left out of Neil Warnock's 25-man squad following their promotion to the Premier League and has been allowed to move back to Wycombe, where he began his career in the youth team without making a senior appearance.
Capped five times by the Republic of Ireland, Rowlands will link up again with ex-Rs coach and manager Gary Waddock as well as former team-mates Gareth Ainsworth and Scott Donnelly.
"I'm happy to be signing for the club," he told wwfc.com. "I haven't played as much as I'd have liked in the last couple of years so I'm delighted Gary has given me this opportunity.
"I'm here until December so hopefully I can have an influence and help push the club on."
Waddock said: "Martin is a quality footballer and will offer more competition in midfield with his experience and knowledge. To bring in a player of his quality is great for us and it helps that he already has an association with the club.
"I know him well from our days at QPR together and although the last two years haven't been kind for him in terms of game time, he's keen to show what he can do."
Rowlands started his career with the Wanderers' youth team, featuring in the side that progressed to the semi-final of the League Cup in 1997 before being released by manager John Gregory.
It was a decision that backfired as he went on to establish himself in the Football League with Brentford following a short spell with Farnborough Town, scoring 23 times in 186 appearances and helping the club win the Third Division title in 1999.
He switched to QPR on a free transfer four years later and proved to be a bargain deal, winning both the players' and supporters' player of the year awards in Ian Holloway's promotion-winning side. As a result, he earned his first cap for the Republic of Ireland against Romania in 2004 and maintained his place as a regular starter for his club in the Championship.
Rowlands was made captain in the 2007/08 season and once again collected both player of the year prizes, although ligament damage suffered during his most recent appearance for Republic of Ireland in 2009 restricted his progress with both club and country.
The goalscoring midfielder spent a short stint on loan with Millwall last term and will go straight into the squad for Wanderers' home clash with Preston North End at Adams Park on Tuesday (k.o. 7.45pm.
Martin will wear squad number 4 and his loan deal will expire on December 27th.
www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10430~2463660,00.html
