Richie Wellens - born March 26 1980
By the time he joined Rovers in the summer of 2007, Richie had established himself as one of the outstanding midfielders in League One via spells at Blackpool and Oldham Athletic.
Rovers gave him the platform to prove that he could perform at a higher level. Combative and yet highly talented, he missed only one League game in the 2007-08 season and despite struggling with an injury he starred in the League One Play-off campaign, culminating in success in the Wembley final.
He was highly influential in keeping Rovers in the Championship during the 2008-09 season and moved on to Leicester City for over £1,000,000 in 2009.
He returned to Rovers following their promotion back to the Championship in 2013 and produced some outstanding displays, remaining at the Keepmoat until January 2016, when he joined Shrewsbury Town.
In all he made 199 appearances for Rovers, scoring 15 times. He is now manager of Swindon Town.