Michael Charles Rose (born 28 July 1982) is an English professional footballer who last played for Warrington Town. A defender, he has made 454 appearances in the Football League, including 107 for Stockport County.
Rose came up through the Manchester United Academy before moving to Chester City in 2001. Further spells followed at Hereford United, Yeovil Town, Cheltenham Town (loan) and Scunthorpe United (loan), before Rose joined Stockport County in time for the 2006–07 campaign. He went on to play 107 games for Stockport and helped them to promotion at Rochdale's expense in the 2008 League Two play-off final, but spent the final six months of his time at Stockport on loan at Norwich City. Rose moved south to join Swindon Town in August 2010, but following their relegation from League One nine months later, he joined Colchester United. Rose joined Rochdale on an initial short-term contract in February 2013, after being released by Colchester. After being released in the summer of 2016 by Rochdale, Rose signed for Morecambe on a one-year contract.
He has represented England at semi-professional level.
Club career
Manchester United
Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Rose progressed through the youth ranks at Manchester United and he signed a trainee contract on 6 July 1998. On 12 September, he scored against Derby playing for United's under-17 side as they won 4–0 in the FA Premier Academy League. His first involvement with the reserves side came in December when he was an unused substitute against Sunderland. Rose featured in the NIVEA Junior Football Tournament in April 1999 as United finished as runners-up. Throughtout the season, he helped the under-17s achieve a 21-game unbeaten run in the league as they finished top of their group to qualify for the play-offs. He scored in the play-off games against Leicester and Sunderland before United lost to Blackburn in the semi-final.
The following season, Rose began to play for United's under-19 side. He featured in multiple friendlies in pre-season before making his first competitive appearance in the 2–0 league defeat versus Sunderland at the beginning of September. On 2 December, he played the full 90-minutes as United got knocked out of the FA Youth Cup following a 2–1 defeat against Nottingham Forest at Gigg Lane. Rose scored his first goals of the season in March 2000 when he got a brace in the league win against Birmingham City. He played 20 league games and scored two goals that ultimately helped United to a third place finish in their group and earned them a spot in the play-offs. During the play-offs, Rose played in the 6–1 win against Leeds United but didn't feature as United were knocked out in next round against West Ham. On 5 April, Rose started for the reserves in the Manchester Senior Cup as they lost versus Oldham Athletic at The Cliff. Post season he was part of the squad that took part in the International Youth Tournament hosted by Real Sociedad. He played in all three group games against Sevilla, Osasuna, and Real Sociedad, managing to score a goal in the draw against Osasuna, but United failed to qualify for the final.
On 1 August, Rose signed on as a professional at the club. A few days later, he played in the Bayern Munich Centenary Youth Tournament as United finished in third place. He continue to play for the under-19s' team as the new season got underway but as the season progressed he'd get more game time for the reserves. His first goal of the season came on 28 October when he opened the scoring in the under-19s league match against local rivals Manchester City. He featured 12 times throughout the season as United finished fifth in their group meaning they missed out on the play-offs. On 23 April 2001, Rose played for the reserves as they won their final group game against Oldham in the Manchester Senior Cup. Three days later, he made his last appearance for United in the 2–1 reserve league win versus Manchester City. On 30 June, he was released from the club without making a first-team appearance.