Another day, another ex-Accrington scouser as we continue our odyssey through the John Coleman era of Rochdale's recent history with a look back at left-back Kevin McIntyre.

Position: Left-back

Appearances: 38

Goals: 1

Arrived from: Accrington Stanley

Left for: Chester

A relatively dependable full-back with a cultured left foot, Kevin McIntyre appeared to be one of the better players that arrived from Accrington Stanley during John Coleman's spell in charge at Dale, but a lack of consistency after Keith Hill's arrival meant he lasted just one season with the club.

Another native Liverpudlian, Kevin McIntyre came through the ranks at Tranmere Rovers but made just two appearances for the Wirrall-based club, spending time out on loan in non-league firstly with Barrow and secondly with Doncaster Rovers, who he would later join on a permanent deal.

He spent two seasons as a permanent player with the South Yorkshire outfit, eventually totalling 97 appearances for the club including the 29 he made in his initial loan spell from Prenton Park. It was here that McIntyre's set-piece ability started to shine through too as he found the net six times during his spell, with his cultured left foot causing many non-league goalkeepers problems over these seasons.

At this stage of his career, McIntyre was mostly used as a defensive midfielder, with his combative style and decent passing range proving to be effective at Conference level, while his relative lack of pace was less noticeable in the centre of the field.

From South Yorkshire, McIntyre made his way back towards Merseyside as he joined Chester, being converted to a left wing-back and making 92 appearances and scoring three goals for the Cestrians, helping them to earn promotion to the Football League in 2003/2004. That promotion would prove to be a curse for McIntyre as he found himself out of the starting eleven - but he managed to remain within League Two by joining Macclesfield Town.

That decision to allow McIntyre to leave proved to haunt Chester, as two of his 16 goals for Macc came against his former club. He was something of a fan's favourite at the Moss Rose as he was converted back into midfield and played the kind of role that would come to be expected of his future Rochdale team-mate Peter Cavanagh, winning the ball and distributing to some of the more progressive players in the team.

Not long after signing a new two year deal with the Silkmen in 2007, McIntyre found himself on the move again, joining Shrewsbury Town for a £50,000 fee in the January 2008 transfer window. The following season, the Shrews were on the promotion hunt but McIntyre would miss a big chunk of the season, breaking his leg in January in a draw with Port Vale. He returned to fitness in time for the play-offs and scored a vital goal in the semi-final victory over Bury, but Salop fell short in the final, losing out to a Gillingham outfit that had beaten Dale in the other semi-final.

He featured regularly over the next two years for the Shrews before being released after four years, 127 appearances and five goals. His next destination was Lancashire and he became yet another Liverpudlian playing in Accrington red, although he would only play for Stanley for one season and under John Coleman.

Arriving as one of Coleman's first signings of his first (and as it transpired, only) summer transfer window, McIntyre was yet another ex-Accrington man through the doors at Spotland and he went straight into the starting eleven for the opening game of the season, a goalless draw with Northampton Town at Spotland.

As Dale looked to mount a play-off challenge with some decent form in the early stages of the season, McIntyre was one of the stand-out players in my eyes during this spell. Although now reaching the latter stages of his career at 35 he was never going to be the most mobile full-back, but he had a real eye for a pass and was relatively dependable defensively even if that lack of pace did catch him out at times.

He scored once in his 38 appearances in that season, a wonderfully taken winner in a surprise 2-3 victory over promotion favourites Rotherham United and he was a threat from set-pieces, delivering for the likes of Dele Adebola and Terry Gornell in front of goal. Personally, I feel he was unfortunate to have been seen as part of John Coleman's Accrington contingent as I didn't think he was too bad a player although with his advancing years and with Michael Rose joining the club later in the season, it didn't come as a surprise when Keith Hill decided to release McIntyre at the end of the season.

He dropped into non-league in the following season to rejoin former club Chester, where he played another 31 games before moving to Welsh Premier League side Connah's Quay Nomads as a player coach, with whom he featured for 55 times without finding the net in two seasons. He retired from football aged 38 at the end of the 2015/2016 season.

Photo: Action Images

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