Kevin Rutkiewicz
Personal information
Full name Kevin Rutkiewicz
Date of birth (1980-05-10) 10 May 1980
Place of birth Royston, Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Larkhall Thistle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2004 Aberdeen 53 (1)
2004–2011 St Johnstone 123 (6)
2011 → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 12 (0)
2011–2012 Dunfermline Athletic 8 (0)
2012–2013 Greenock Morton 25 (2)
2013–2014 Carolina RailHawks 4 (0)
2014–2015 East Fife 14 (0)
2015–2016 Blantyre Victoria
2016–2017 Irvine Meadow
2017 Clyde 1 (0)
2017–2018 Annan Athletic 2 (0)
Total 242 (9)
Managerial career
2018–2021 Stirling Albion
2022–2023 East Kilbride
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kevin Rutkiewicz (born 10 May 1980) is a Scottish football coach and former player. He was formally the manager of Scottish League Two club Stirling Albion and of Lowland League side East Kilbride. Ruthkiewicz played as a defender for Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, East Fife and American club Carolina RailHawks.

After a stint as player and assistant manager at Annan Athletic, Rutkiewicz was appointed Stirling Albion manager in October 2018. He announced his resignation in December 2021.

Career

Glasgow born Rutkiewicz began his professional career with Aberdeen, making his debut in an SPL fixture against Hibernian in November 1999 at the age of nineteen. He went on to make almost seventy first-team appearances for the Pittodrie club,[1] scoring his only goal for the club in a 3–2 defeat to Hearts in April 2002.[2]

Rutkiewicz became then St Johnstone manager John Connolly's first signing for the Perth club in June 2004. He scored his first goal for Saints in a 3–0 win over Queen of the South in the league cup two months into his St Johnstone career. He signed a new two-year contract at the end of 2005–06, but missed all of 2006–07 due to an injury. In his first game back, on 11 August 2007, he scored a goal in Saints' 2–2 draw with Stirling Albion at McDiarmid Park.[3]

Rutkiewicz was made club captain in 2008–09 after the previous captain, Kevin James, suffered injury problems and dropped out of the first team. In March 2009 he received the Scottish First Division Player of the Month Award for a string of solid performances that helped the team maintain their lead at the top of the league table.[4]

In January 2011, Rutkiewicz joined Dunfermline on loan. This successful spell at the club led to him being offered a permanent contract for the 2011–12 season, which he accepted. He missed most of the season due to a hip injury. Soon after making a comeback he suffered an ankle injury.[5] He made a second comeback but then immediately suffered a third injury, which ruled him out of action for the rest of the season.[5]

After he was released by Dunfermline in May 2012, and went on trial with Greenock Morton starting in a friendly match against Concordia Chiajna and coming off the bench to replace Martin Hardie in the Renfrewshire Cup final against St Mirren.[6]

He signed for Morton towards the end of July 2012.[7] In April 2013, Rutkiewicz agreed a two-year player/coach deal with Carolina RailHawks in the North American Soccer League.[8]

In October 2015, Rutkiewicz dropped down to Junior level when he signed for Blantyre Victoria in a player/coach role.[9] He took temporary charge of Vics after the departure of Davie Greig in December 2015 but followed his former manager to Irvine Meadow in January 2016.[10][11] Rutkiewicz returned to the SPFL tier-system in March 2017, signing a short-term contract with Scottish League Two side Clyde.[12] Rutkiewicz left the club in May 2017 after his contract ended,[13] subsequently signing a deal with Annan Athletic which saw him become player-assistant manager to Peter Murphy.[14]

In October 2018, Rutkiewicz was appointed manager of Scottish League Two club Stirling Albion.[15] In December 2021, Rutkiewicz announced is resignation from the role.[16]

On 28 March 2022, Rutkiewicz was appointed manager of Lowland League side East Kilbride [17] Rutkiewicz won the Lowland League Cup with East Kilbride in 2022. He was sacked by Kilby in March 2023, just short of a year in charge.

Personal life

Rutkiewicz is of Polish descent. His grandfather Ernest was born in Warsaw, but moved to Scotland during the Second World War.[18]

Career statistics

Manager

As of match played 18 December 2021
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Stirling Albion October 2018 December 2021 115 50 25 40 043.48

Honours

St Johnstone

References

  1. ↑ "Kevin Rutkiewicz". afcheritage.org. Aberdeen FC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Hearts fightback downs Dons". BBC. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "St Johnstone 2–2 Stirling Albion". BBC Sport. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "March player prize for Rutkiewicz". BBC Sport. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Kevin Rutkiewicz out for the season as jinx strikes". The Scotsman. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Tait, Chris (24 July 2012). "Ton set to sign ex-Pars man". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Kevin Rutkiewicz signs". Greenock Morton F.C. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Rutkiewicz & Halsman". Greenock Morton F.C. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Blantyre Vics boss Greig beats opposition to sign experienced defender Rutkiewicz". Evening Times. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Wilson, Fraser (18 December 2015). "Greig exit spells end of hugely successful era at Blantyre Vics". Daily Record. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  11. ↑ McGowan, Eric (5 January 2016). "Irvine Meadow appoint former Blantyre Vics boss David Greig as their new manager". Irvine Herald. Daily Record. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Rutkiewicz Extends Stay". Clyde FC. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "Players Released". Clyde FC. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  14. ↑ "Peter Murphy: The quality of Annan's new former St Johnstone, Ipswich Town and Hearts man is unquestionable". News & Star. CN Group. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Stirling Albion appoint Kevin Rutkiewicz as new manager". BBC Sport. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  16. ↑ Admin (9 December 2021). "Club statement - Kevin Rutkiewicz". SAFC. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Kevin Rutkiewicz announced as new 1st Team Manager".
  18. ↑ Jonathan Mitchell (13 August 2012). "Kevin's 'racism' claims". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  19. ↑ "Dunfermline Ath 2-3 St Johnstone". BBC. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
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