Ronald Francis Jepson (born 12 May 1963) is an English football manager and former player.
A striker, he scored 86 goals in 354 league games in an eleven-year professional career. He moved from Nantwich Town to Port Vale in 1989, turning professional at the age of 25. Loaned out to Peterborough United in 1990, he was sold on to Preston North End for £80,000 in February 1991. He transferred to Exeter City a year later, before he moved on to Huddersfield Town in December 1993 for £70,000. He stayed with the "Terriers" for three years, helping the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1995. He moved to Bury for £40,000 in 1996, and helped the "Shakers" to the Second Division title in the 1996–97 campaign. He played for Oldham Athletic following a £40,000 move in January 1998, before arriving at his final club Burnley later in the year. He helped Burnley to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1999–2000, before he retired in 2000.
After a spell coaching at Burnley, he was appointed as Gillingham manager in November 2005. He was in charge for two years before tendering his resignation. He then returned to the back-room as a coach at Huddersfield Town, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, Bury, and Cardiff City. He took charge of Bury in October 2013 following a period as caretaker manager.
Playing career
A relative latecomer to the professional game at 25, when he transferred from Nantwich Town, Jepson started his league career under John Rudge at Port Vale in March 1989. The reason for this delay was that he had to spend four years fighting manslaughter charges in Belgium for his alleged involvement in the Heysel Stadium disaster; he was finally found Not Guilty when his trial concluded in April 1989.
He appeared just twice for the "Valiants" in 1988–89 as they won promotion out of the Third Division, and was an unused substitute in the play-off final victory over Bristol Rovers. He then played eight Second Division games in 1989–90, and seeing as he was unable to nail down a first team place at Vale Park he was loaned out to Peterborough United in January 1990 for a three-month spell. He played eighteen Fourth Division games for Mark Lawrenson's "Posh", scoring five goals, as they missed out on the play-offs by just three points. Back in Burslem, he played nineteen matches without scoring in 1990–91, before being sold to Preston North End for £80,000 in February 1991.
Les Chapman's "Lilywhites" finished 17th in the Third Division in 1990–91 and 1991–92. Jepson played 43 matches for the club in league and cup competitions, scoring 12 goals. He signed with Exeter City after Alan Ball paid out a £60,000 fee in July 1992. He helped the "Grecians" to maintain their third tier status in 1992–93; they finished three points ahead of his former club Preston North End, who occupied the final relegation place. They did drop into the basement division in 1993–94, but Jepson left St James Park before this eventuality. He played 67 games for Exeter, scoring 25 goals, including four in one match against Wrexham.
In December 1993, Huddersfield Town manager Neil Warnock paid Exeter £70,000 to secure Jepson's services. He formed a successful strike partnership with Andy Booth at Leeds Road, and scored five goals in 23 games throughout the remainder of the season, including a hat-trick past York City on 22 January. The pair helped the "Terriers" to gain promotion in 1994–95, beating Bristol Rovers 2–1 in the play-off final at Wembley, with Jepson crossing the ball to Booth for the opening goal of the game. He also scored twice in the final of the 1995 Yorkshire Electricity Cup, as Huddersfield beat Hull City 4–2. Over the course of the season he made 54 appearances, scoring 23 goals, whilst Booth hit 30 goals. For his efforts Jepson was voted the club's Player of the Year. He scored 14 goals in 48 appearances under new manager Brian Horton in 1995–96, after which Booth was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for £2.7 million. "Rocket Ronnie", as Jepson was called by the Huddersfield fans, also left the McAlpine Stadium, having played a total of 125 games for the club in all competitions, scoring 42 goals.