Adrian Barry Pennock (born 27 March 1971) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name to ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

, Gillingham and Gravesend & Northfleet. He spent two years as

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

manager before joining

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

to be first team coach. He left at the end of the 2012–13 season following the departure of

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

, and on 12 November 2013, he was appointed as a manager for

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

where he twice led them to record highest league finishes. He left his position as head coach of

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side Gillingham in September 2017, and was appointed as manager of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club Barrow the following month, a post he held until the end of the 2017–18 season. He then coached

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club in English, commonly known as DPMM FC) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The club played in the Brunei Pr ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, a team that plays in the

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

Playing career

Although born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

and having grown up supporting

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, Pennock began his career with their fiercest rivals,

, where he progressed through the ranks to turn professional in 1989. He was only to manage one appearance for the Canaries' first team, however, and in 1992 he was allowed to move to

for a fee of £30,000. He was a regular for the Cherries until he suffered a knee injury in December 1995 and was unable to regain his place in the team. In October 1996 his former Bournemouth manager,

signed him for Gillingham for £25,000. Pennock spent over six years at

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has ...

where he was a regular in the first team until a recurring knee injury took its toll. He developed a reputation as a practical joker whilst with Gillingham – during one pre-season friendly he switched on the pitch sprinkler system during the match. He also scored a memorable own goal against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in 2000 which spawned a recurring terrace chant of "He only scores own goals". Such was his affinity with the fans that he even acquired his own fan club. On the pitch, he was named captain for the play-off final in 2000 which saw the Gills promoted to the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

for the first time in their history. Injuries forced Pennock to retire from

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

football in 2003, after which he signed for

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

side Gravesend & Northfleet, where he was also assistant manager. In January 2006 he was involved in a dispute with Gillingham chairman

Paul Scally Paul Damien Phillip Scally (born ) is a London-born businessman who served as the chairman of Gillingham Football Club between 1995 and 2022. Career Scally had become wealthy through the sale of his Metronote photocopier business in South Lon ...

over a testimonial match which Pennock alleged he was promised as part of his final contract at Gillingham but which never materialised.

Managerial career

Welling United

In January 2005 Pennock was appointed manager of

of the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

and by the end of the season had guided them to their best league position for six years.

Stoke City (coach)

He left Welling at the end of the 2006–07 season to take up a coaching position at

, under his former Gillingham manager,

. He was initially appointed youth team boss at Stoke. In January 2010, Pennock expressed an interest in one day returning to management. In the summer of 2011 he made the step up to become first team coach at Stoke. He left the club at the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season.

Forest Green Rovers

On 12 November 2013, Pennock was appointed as the new manager of

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

side

. He led the club to a 10th-place finish at the end of the 2013–14 season. In January 2015, he was linked with the vacant managerial role at Gillingham, however he issued a statement declaring his aim to remain at Forest Green. At the end of the 2014–15 season he led Forest Green to a record highest league finish of 5th in the Conference Premier, meaning that the club secured a place in the play-offs for the first time. Forest Green were knocked out in the semi-finals, losing 3–0 on aggregate against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. On 4 September 2015, after leading Forest Green to seven straight wins in the renamed

at the start of the 2015–16 season, he was named August Manager of the Month. On 5 September 2015, he led the club to an eighth straight league win at the start of the season with victory at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

– a National League record. On 5 February 2016, he was named

January Manager of the Month having guided Forest Green to six straight wins. Despite taking Forest Green to 2nd in the

, which was another record highest finish, he was relieved of his duties on 27 April 2016, just one week before the play-offs, after a poor run of results that had failed to see his side win in seven games. In November 2016, he returned to

after being appointed as a consultant to new manager Jamie Day, who had been his assistant at Forest Green.

Gillingham

On 4 January 2017, Pennock was appointed as the new head coach of his former club and

side Gillingham. Steve Lovell and Jamie Day were announced as part of his team of coaching staff. Pennock and Day left Gillingham by mutual consent on 25 September 2017, following a 3–0 defeat at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Barrow

On 27 October 2017, Pennock was appointed as manager of

side Barrow. Barrow parted company with Pennock on 18 May 2018, with the side having narrowly avoided relegation.

Brunei DPMM FC

At the conclusion of the

2018 Singapore Premier League The 2018 Singapore Premier League (also known as the Great Eastern Hyundai Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for associati ...

season,

appointed Pennock as manager for the 2019 season. Pennock led the side to their second SPL title in his first season in charge.

Career statistics

Player

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

and

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

Manager

:''As of match played 2 November 2019''

Honours

Player

Gillingham * Football League Second Division Playoffs:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Manager

DPMM *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * National League Manager of the Month: August 2015, January 2016 * Singapore Premier League Coach of the Year:

References

;Specific ;General *

External links

* *
Profile at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennock, Adrian 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Ipswich English footballers Association football defenders Norwich City F.C. players Molde FK players AFC Bournemouth players Gillingham F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Eliteserien players English football managers Welling United F.C. managers Forest Green Rovers F.C. managers Gillingham F.C. managers National League (English football) managers English Football League managers Expatriate football managers in Brunei Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway DPMM FC managers