Russell Penn

Russell Penn signed for the Harriers just before the start of the 2005-06 season after being released from his previous club, Scunthorpe Utd.

He spent three years as a trainee there but never made an appearance for them. He previously played for the Harriers when he was a member of their youth squad in 2002 but then left to join Scunthorpe.

On his return to Aggborough in July 2005 he went out on loan to Alvechurch for a month then once back he went on to stake a regular starting place in the side.

He came to the notice of Paul Fairclough when he was in charge of the England C Team and became a regular international standard player for many years. In 2009 he was given the honour of England C Player of the Year.

In 2008 he was a target for both Walsall and Peterborough with talk of him going to either club for a six figure fee but nothing ever came of it. He did finally leave Aggborough to join Burton Albion in July 2009 for a fee thought to be in the region of £50,000. Considerably less than his supposed worth a year earlier.

Russ returned to the Harriers from York City at the end of his career on an eighteen month contract but after one season playing he hung up his boots to become John Pembertons assistant manager.

A few months later, in November 2019, he became the caretaker manager following Pembertons dismissal until the arrival of Jimmy Shan a few weeks later.

In February 2020, when Shan left, he was handed the full managers job.

Russ steadied the ship and consolidated our place in the National North eventually taking us to a memorable FA Cup tie at home to West Ham Utd that was seen worldwide and gained the Harriers new respect. That was followed by a, somewhat surprising, return to the top level of non league football after a brilliant run of results in the 2022-23 season saw the Reds gain promotion at Brackley Town.

Sadly Russ struggled at the higher level and recruited poorly during that close season. By the New Year of 2024 we were at the bottom of the table and heading for a return to where we had come from so his time was over.

Russ remains a legend at Aggborough even though his time as our manager didn’t work out quite as planned.