Ex-Walsall and West Brom striker returns to his roots with ‘Roofe Academy’

Kemar Roofe is embarking on his next chapter by returning to his roots in Walsall.

The Walsall-born forward has seen his playing career derailed by injury, but launched the ‘Roofe Academy’ during his brief spell with his hometown club in late 2025.

Roofe made his first steps in the game with West Brom, where he spent a decade in their youth ranks, before embarking on a remarkable rise up the footballing ladder.

Spells with Oxford United and Leeds United followed, before Roofe went on to lift the Scottish Premiership title with Rangers, where also reached the Europa League final.

But Roofe has never forgotten where his rise started and those principles have ultimately served as the genesis behind his academy.

"The whole idea stemmed from me growing up with my dad and my brother. We used to analyse our games and training sessions while we were at West Brom,” Roofe explained.

"My dad used to pick up on things that we could improve. Then the next day, we would go down the park and practising on these areas.

"It was a regular and constant process that we used to do. It reduced during my career because I was at professional clubs, but we were still analysing my performances. Then I could practice after training.

"I noticed not many players were doing this, not many players had a dad like mine that would review their performances and take them out to practice consistently.

"It's a credit to my dad and I'm very grateful that he put so much time and effort into getting me where I needed to be in my career."

Roofe has travelled the breadth of the country throughout his career, and even had spells with Iceland and Belgium, but it was important to set-up his academy in his hometown.

"That's something that I'm very passionate about. It's helped me, so is it something I could set-up myself?

"If I'm doing something then I want to be hands on and make sure that it's done correctly to a good standard.

"My career has taken me everywhere but my hometown, which is Walsall [prior to joining the Saddlers]. Now I'm finally here at Walsall, I thought it was the perfect time to fully set-up an academy to be able to offer training for players who require the extra work."

In Roofe’s view, his latest chapter feels like a full circle moment. His dad continues to oversee training sessions and offer his advice, while Roofe’s kids also train with the academy.

Although Roofe has visions of expanding, just as he did during a glittering career, he has been back at West Brom in recent weeks, where two of his academy players have also started to train.

"Taking that Friday session to West Brom's training ground on their 3G pitch outside of the dome.

"Being able to give that experience to players that have never been in a professional environment and set-up before.

"It's another full circle moment where those kids are the same ages that I was when I was at West Brom.

"I'm seeing it from a different point of view now. What I was probably feeling at their age, I'm seeing it through those players now.

"That's special and we've got two of our kids training with West Brom. I've been able to help them get to a professional set-up which is another nice achievement."

For further information on how to get involved, you can follow @theroofeacademy on Facebook and Instagram, or visit the website at www.theroofeacademy.com.