By Paul Atherton BBC Sport Online

Jack Rowell's imminent return to Bath as their new director of rugby brings the career of one of the English game's most respected names full circle.

Rowell will be re-united with the club that he transformed from a small-time outfit into one of the giants of the English game.

Rowell returning to Bath

Born in 1937, Rowell was educated at West Hartlepool Grammar School and St Edmund's Hall, Oxford.

He was a keen rugby player and after leaving university went on to represent Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Gosforth at lock and skipper.

He switched to coaching with Gosforth in 1972, and four years later guided them to John Player Cup final success at Twickenham.

In 1978 he moved to Bath where he was to achieve unrivalled success.

When he arrived at Bath the club had a relatively small fan base and many of the area's best players turned out for West Country rivals Bristol.

Gareth Chilcott was an integral part of Rowell's Bath team

Rowell was quick to change that - Gareth Chilcott joined form Bristol and became an integral part of a team that also included the likes of Roger Spurrell and Richard Hill.

During 16 years at the club, Rowell led Bath to five league titles and eight Twickenham cup final triumphs in eight attempts.

On three occasions - 1989, 1992 and 1994 - Bath completed a league and cup double.

England calling

In April 1994 the inevitable happened and Rowell was appointed England coach, taking over from Geoff Cooke.

Rowell quickly stamped his mark on the national squad, building his team around the likes of captain Will Carling, Rob Andrew and Jeremy Guscott.

Between his appointment and July 1997 Rowell's England team notched up an impressive 21 Test wins in 29.

In 1995 England were World Cup semi-finalists, beating defending champions Australia to reach the last four before losing to New Zealand.

Earlier that year they achieved a Five Nations Grand Slam, repeating the feat the following year.

In July 1997 Rowell stepped down as England boss for commercial reasons.

Will Carling was Rowell's England captain

These were still the days of semi-professionalism in rugby union and Rowell enjoyed a high-profile business career as troubleshooter for several companies.

An expanding international fixture itinerary made it increasingly difficult for Rowell to mix his business commitments with the demands placed on a national coach and he appeared reluctant to be upgraded from part-time to full-time coach.

After a year out of the game, Rowell returned in 1998 as a non-executive director at Bristol when Bath-based millionaire businessman Malcolm Pearce saved the club from extinction.

Rowell became the Shoguns' managing director in September 2000.

The-then 63-year-old took over player contract discussions at Bristol, and represented the club at Premier Rugby Board meetings, enabling coach Dean Ryan to devote more time to supervising the senior squad.

Under Rowell's watchful eye Bristol have seen a significant upturn in fortunes, qualifying for next season's Heineken Cup courtesy of reaching the Zurich Premiership play-off final.

Bath return

Rowell's career has now come full circle with the announcement that he is returning to Bath as director of rugby.

But the former coach will find a club very different to the one he left in 1994 and the challenge facing him at Bath is a significant one.

The 1998 European champions slumped to an 11th place finish in the Zurich Premiership this season, falling considerably short of Heineken Cup qualifying standards.

This season they have lost all 11 away league games and only avoided relegation when English rugby bosses belatedly decided that National League One champions Rotherham would not be promoted.

But if anyone has the pedigree to turn Bath around, then it is Rowell.