Sam Russell

Rochdale In July 2007 he signed for Rochdale, making his first start for the club in the Football League Trophy second round tie against Bury in October 2007. Following an injury to regular keeper James Spencer, Russell was next called upon in the FA Cup defeat at Southend United. He retained his place in the side and in December 2007, signed a contract until the end of the season having been on non-contract terms. He broke a finger in the 2–1 defeat at Lincoln City in February 2008 and was expected to be out of action until April.

In the 2008–09 season Russell was handed the number one shirt for Rochdale. He had made some important saves for Rochdale that season, however he made the occasional mistake, such as scoring an own goal in the Rochdale–Bury derby, and slipping in a late equaliser by Jamie Ward against Chesterfield despite a Tom Kennedy late winner. In February he was replaced by Blackburn loanee Frank Fielding after Spencer was loaned out to Chester City.

Wrexham After being released by Rochdale at the end of the season, Russell signed for Conference National side Wrexham after impressing on trial.

Return to Darlington In May 2010 he agreed to rejoin Darlington on a one-year contract. He became their regular goalkeeper, and played at Wembley as they beat Mansfield Town to win the FA Trophy. He signed a one-year contract extension, but when the club suffered financial difficulties and failed to pay the players, he submitted his 14-day notice at the end of December and left the club for fellow Conference club Forest Green Rovers in January 2012.

Forest Green Rovers Russell made his Forest Green debut on 21 January 2012 in a 0–0 draw against Newport County. In his first eight Forest Green performances he saved four consecutive penalty kicks. He made his hundredth league appearance for the club in a 2–1 win over Grimsby Town on 18 March 2014. In March 2014, he signed a contract extension to remain with the club.

A run of 144 consecutive league appearances for Forest Green was brought to an end on 21 February 2015 when he was replaced by Steve Arnold for a 3–0 win over AFC Telford United. On 4 May 2015, it was announced that he was leaving Forest Green after his contract had come to an end.

Gateshead In June 2015, Russell joined National League side Gateshead, returning to a club where over a decade earlier he had spent time on loan.

Return to Forest Green Rovers On 1 July 2016, it was announced that Russell had returned to former club Forest Green Rovers on a two-year deal. He made his 150th league appearance for the club in a 4–1 away win over Maidstone United on 27 August 2016. Between 17 September 2016 and 29 October 2016, he kept a run of seven National League clean sheets, until Oliver Hawkins header in a 1–1 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge saw him concede and narrowly miss out on the league record of eight consecutive clean sheets set by Alan Julian for Stevenage.

Russell appeared in every single of minute of Forest Green's 2016–17 campaign, as he helped the club secure promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history with a 3-1 National League play-off final win against Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium. He was rewarded with a new one-year contract in June 2017 for Forest Green's first season in League Two.

He was released by Forest Green at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Coaching career Grimsby Town On 9 July 2018 he joined Grimsby Town as the club's new player / goalkeeper coach.

Russell retired from playing at the end of the 2020–21 season but remained Paul Hurst's first team goalkeeping coach. On 25 June 2022, Russell announced via his Twitter account that he was leaving Grimsby.

Russell returned to former club Forest Green Rovers as an academy goalkeeping coach in November 2022.

Career statistics

+ Club statistics

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2001–02 Premier League

2002–03 Premier League

2003–04 Premier League

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2001–02 NPL Premier Division

2004–05 League Two

League Two

League Two

League Two

League Two

Conference Premier

2010–11 Conference Premier

2017–18 League Two

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2018–19 League Two

League Two

League Two