In fact, it was almost as if the Nottingham born defender had been at Scunthorpe all of his life. He joined them whilst at school, and by the time he left them in 2006, he had chalked up almost three hundred appearances for them by the age of 25.

However, he came to Spotland with a wish to play in a central defence position, and having had his wish granted, he's never looked back.

In joining Dale, he did so at the second time of asking. He nearly joined the club back in 2005, but changed his mind at the last minute and stuck at Glanford Park with Scunny.

He may not be your typical central defender in terms of his size, standing at 5'9, but he was a very clear choice for Dale Player of the Season in his debut year after what was a fantastic year for the club.

Almost from day one, he stood out. He marshalled the back superbly and it was no surprise that he was given the captaincy when Gary Jones was ruled out for the rest of the season. Not only that, his leadership has helped Rory McArdle come on career wise and become far better player than what he had been previously.

He unfortunately missed the latter end to the 2006-7 season following a hamstring injury in training, but his contributions were recognised by supporters as previously referred to when he was named Supporters' Player of the Season.

Goal scoring is certainly not his strong point. Despite a career which has seen him make 315 appearances, he has scored just one solitary goal - that coming in a play off defeat for Scunny away at Lincoln. He'll go into the 2007-8 season having not hit the back of the net in over four years - except for his o.g. away at Milton Keynes this past season whilst playing for Dale.

His performances for Dale impressed to the extent that he was rewarded with a new contract in February keeping him at the club until the Summer of 2008. Dale supporters will be hoping he stays a lot longer than that.