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He made just two first team appearances with Leeds and in a short space of time he played for Wolves, Cambridge, Crewe, Pontefract, York, Bury and Northwich.
That’s when Frank Casper stepped in during the summer of 1989 and made him a surprise signing for the Clarets, arriving in readiness for the 1989/90 season along with John Deary, Tony Hancock, Joe Jakub, Peter Mumby and Nigel Smith.
He took some time to settle, mainly due to the fact that he didn’t have a settled position in the side. He played at full back, in the centre of defence and in midfield without being able to establish himself in any of the positions.
But it all changed in the FA Cup replay against Scunthorpe. He had been named as a substitute but was called into action when Scunthorpe kicked Peter Mumby out of the game early following his man of the match performance at Glanford Park in the first match.
We all wondered how Frank would re-shuffle the team but he didn’t and played Eli up front alongside Ron Futcher. A new Clarets hero was born. He scored in a 1-1 draw and was in the starting line up for the replay and scored two more in a 5-0 win.
That was to remain his position for the rest of his time at Burnley. Futcher had signed just before the cup tie and early in 1990 John Francis arrived from Sheffield United and for the next season and a half they were the three who fought for the forward positions.
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On Easter Monday, after scoring in the 1-1 home draw with Scarborough, he collected an injury from which he never fully recovered. That goal proved to be his last and he played just eleven games the following season with only two of them starts.
After the 1993/94 season in which he never featured Roger was released and played a couple of games for Scunthorpe as a sub and then had a short spell with Partick Thistle before retiring.
The first time he made the half time draw was in the Bradford City match at Easter 1996, he received a superb reception from the Turf Moor crowd. He was one of those SPECIAL TURF MOOR PLAYERS and will without doubt receive a similar reception tonight.