What happened to the manager who was sacked by his new club after 10 minutes

Leroy Rosenior, the father of Chelsea manager Liam, holds the unwanted record for the shortest managerial reign in English football history after being sacked just 10 minutes into his spell at Torquay United.

Back in the summer of 2007, Rosenior returned for his second spell in charge of Torquay after chairman Mike Bateson asked him to take charge of the recently-relegated Gulls.

At the time, the Devon-based club were up for sale, but Bateson needed someone to come in and steady the ship for a short period. That man was Rosenior.

In his 2017 autobiography, It’s Only Banter, the former West Ham forward recalled his conversation with the owner.

Bateson said: “What I need is someone to come in and look after it for me. I trust you and I’d like you to come in and oversee things until I find a buyer. It could be six months, it could be a fortnight. What do you say?”

Rosenior agreed and a press conference was called to announce his arrival, but minutes later, as he was being unveiled to the media alongside chief scout John Milton, the unthinkable happened.

Leroy Rosenior during his first stint at Torquay in January 2006. Image credit: Getty

A local consortium agreed to buy Bateson’s majority stake in the club and they wanted Paul Buckle, who had left his role as assistant manager of Exeter City, to take charge for the 2007/08 campaign.

Rosenior, therefore, was relieved of his duties after just 10 minutes.

In his autobiography, Rosenior recalled the phone call he received from Bateson during the press conference.

Bateson said, "Leroy, you’re not going to believe this..."

Rosenior replied, "What, Mike?'" He then confirmed that he'd sold the club.

Unsurprisingly, Rosenior thought Bateson was joking. He said: “You’re winding me up, Mike.”

Bateson then replied, "I’m not. The consortium interested saw the press conference on the television and realised, having appointed you, I was serious about keeping the club and they’ve agreed to terms. I’ve sold it. Oh, and they want their own manager.”

Rosenior pictured during the FA Cup Third round clash between Torquay and Birmingham City. Image credit: Getty

A few years later, Rosenior spoke about the unfortunate moment.

"I went down, did the press conference and Mike rang me about 10 minutes later," he told the BBC. "I thought he was joking, but he said you're not going to believe this, but they've given me the offer I want, so just hold tight, and we'll get it all sorted.

"It's weird because I was there previously for four years, got promoted and had some wonderful times as manager.

"But everybody talks about the ten minutes. It wasn't really an issue because I was never really in situ. I was pleased that Mike had managed to get the money that he wanted for the club, and we all moved on."

That short-lived spell at Torquay was the final stint of Rosenior's managerial career. He has since appeared as a pundit on numerous shows, including The Football League Show and BBC Radio 5 Live.

He was also awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for his work in tackling discrimination in football and elsewhere in society.