If it's tales of nomadic journeyman footballers you're after, then the story of James Tavernier could well float your boat. Born on an otherwise unremarkable day in late October 1991, Tavernier forexample, stands at the rather average height of 5ft 8in (or 1.75m if you're that way inclined), and weighs in at 12st 10lb (or 81kg for those of a metric persuasion).
Our tale begins in 2008 with a fresh-faced Tavernier signing up as a trainee for Newcastle United, notable for their, how shall we say, inconsistent success in the English Premier League. Subsequent to his signing, Tavernier was allowed to grace the field on a grand total of two occasions during his 2012 - 2013 season with The Magpies.
Perhaps realising the young lad needed some 'character building', Newcastle then elected to ship Tavernier off to the dizzying heights of Gateshead in the National League in January 2011. There, on the banks of the Tyne, dear James eked out a living making 13 appearances for The Heed.
Not content with a spell in Gateshead, the powers that be decided to bounce James between various low-tier clubs quicker than a dodgy rubber cheque. In August 2011, he landed at Carlisle United, contributing to 16 matches in League Two. By November that year, he found himself in Sheffield Wednesday turning out for six games in the Championship, and scarcely a month into 2012, he ended up at MK Dons, taking part in seven League Two matches.
You'd think all this club-hopping would tire our young man out. But no, on went Tavernier, gallivanting across various English football teams like some sort of sporting nomad. First he was leased out to Shrewsbury Town in July of '13, featuring in a solitary match for the League One outfit. He then bounced over to Rotherham United in November of the same year, participating in 27 fixtures in League One and having the effrontery to net five goals.
By June 2014, Newcastle finally cut the cord, selling Tavernier to the economically-challenged Wigan Athletic for some 'undisclosed fee'. There, he featured in 11 matches in the League One season 2014 - 2015. Ever the restless spirit, Tavernier made his merry way over to Bristol City in January 2015, making a dozen appearances and scoring three times for the Championship side.
Cue July of 2015, when somehow, some way, you'd hope someone took pity on the lad's petrol expenses and Tavernier landed himself a job at Rangers in the Premiership, relocating to Scotland for a fee rumoured to be around a pitiful £200k (you couldn't make it up).
Since then, his exploits at Rangers have been, to be fair, quite remarkable. From 2015 to the present day, he's been involved in every season of the Scottish Premiership, making a boatload of appearances, notching up an impressive tally of goals, wearing that number 2 jersey like he was born in it.
Recently, his performance in the League Cup in 2024 - 2025 has seen him score once in two starts, while in the Scottish Cup 2023 - 2024 he netted once in five starts. He also appeared in the Europa League for Rangers in both the 2023 - 2024 and the 2024 - 2025 seasons. Moreover, he distinguished himself in the Champions League Qualifiers in 2024 - 2025.
So, there you have it — the rather unconventional, occasionally intriguing, and ever so slightly embarrassing footballing tale of James Tavernier. What a journey it's been.
