James Hayter born April 9, 1979
Isle of Wight-born James began his career at AFC Bournemouth, where he played under manager Sean O’Driscoll, who brought James to Rovers in May 2007 for a fee of £200,000.
Initially hampered by a niggling groin injury, he nevertheless had a huge part to play when Rovers reached the League One play-offs in May 2008.
In the final at Wembley his diving header from Brian Stock’s corner soon after half-time was the only goal of the game as Rovers beat Leeds United to return to the second tier of English football after 50 years.
Subsequently the hard-working forward formed an effective partnership with Billy Sharp which helped to keep Rovers in the Championship for four seasons.
His best seasons came in 2009-10 and 2010-11, in both of which he scored nine League goals. Before moving to Yeovil Town in June 2012, James played 179 games for Rovers, scoring 39 times. He now works at former team-mate Brian Stock’s football academy.