Gary Simpson (born 11 April 1961) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he was a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played for Boston United and

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

amongst other clubs. He acted as a coach and assistant to Keith Alexander at a number of Football League clubs, and upon Alexander's death in March 2010 he replaced him as manager at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

until March 2012. He has also had spells as manager of

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

and Lincoln City, and as assistant manager of Barrow.

Playing career

Simpson started his career with Stoke City, making more than 100 reserve team appearances, before joining Boston United in the summer of 1980. He remained with the club for five seasons, skippering the club in the 1985 FA Trophy final, before leaving to join Stafford Rangers, Weymouth and

. Simpson moved on to his first managerial role becoming Player/Manager at

, winning the club's first ever Manager of the Month award in March 1993. Having been in charge at

The Northolme The Northolme (known as the Gainsborough Martin & Co. Arena for sponsorship purposes) is a football ground in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. It is the home ground of Gainsborough Trinity, it has a capacity of 4,304, of which 504 is seated ...

for three years, following a 3–1 home defeat to Whitby Town on 9 October 1993 Simpson resigned from his role with

Leighton James Leighton James (born 16 February 1953 in Loughor, Swansea, Wales) is a former Wales international footballer. Playing career James started his career as a left winger with Burnley, making his league debut in November 1970 against Nottingham Fo ...

succeeding him in Trinity's hotseat. He quickly signed as a player for Arnold Townoperating under the stewardship of his one-time Boston United manager Ray O'Brien. He became something of a cult-figure with the club, helping them secure the

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History T ...

Division One Title for 1993–1994 before joining

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Northern Premier League away defeat to Boston United on 14 September and spent a month with the club before leaving. He returned to Arnold Town at the start of the 1995 season before leaving in March 1996 to become Assistant Manager at Ilkeston Town. He won nine England semi-professional international caps and also captained the Middlesex Wanderers touring side, playing games in Indonesia, Holland and Hungary.

Coaching career

Having first met Keith Alexander whilst both were players at Boston United, Simpson acted as Alexander's assistant manager at Ilkeston Town, Northwich Victoria, Lincoln City,

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

and

whilst also acting as a scout and coach during Alexander's spell as Director of Football at Bury.

Lincoln City

Between November 2003 and March 2004, he was caretaker manager with the club for 11 Football League games in the absence of Keith Alexander, winning five, drawing four and losing just two. On 2 January 2006, Lincoln placed both Alexander and Simpson on gardening leave with

John Schofield John McAllister Schofield (September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906) was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later served ...

being given the responsibilities of pro-football. A board meeting three days later saw Alexander return to the manager's seat but Simpson leave the club by mutual consent for footballing reasons.

Bury

Keith Alexander was appointed Director of Football at Bury in May 2007 with

Chris Casper Christopher Martin Casper (born 28 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player who is now the director of football at League Two side Salford City. As a player he was a defender who played in the Premier League for Manches ...

remaining in the managerial chair. On 3 July 2007 Simpson rejoined Alexander at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, G ...

joining the club as a coach with responsibility for the reserve side and scouting.

Macclesfield Town

When Keith Alexander died on 3 March 2010, Simpson, who by now was Assistant Manager at

, took over as caretaker manager. On 13 April 2010, Simpson was appointed permanent manager, signing a two-year deal to the end of the 2010–11 season, after having won 18 points from a possible 30. This was extended in April 2011 by a further year to the end of the 2012–13 season. However, he was asked to stand down by chairman Mike Rance on 18 March 2012 following a run of 16 consecutive games without victory, with the club finding themselves out of the relegation places in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

only by way of goal difference. During his time as manager of Macclesfield Town, Simpson always wore yellow socks during matches as a tribute to Keith Alexander. Following the death of Richard Butcher, he wore the number 21 during matches as a tribute to his friend; 21 was Butcher's squad number and was retired by Macclesfield Town in his honour.

Return to Lincoln City

On 27 February 2013, Simpson was appointed manager of Lincoln City following the departure of

David Holdsworth David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned manager. As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for Watford, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Walsall, Bolton Wanderers ...

. Prior to his first game in charge, Simpson re-signed former City defender Nat Brown from former club Macclesfield, and the following day he oversaw City's 1–1 draw away at Woking which left Lincoln in 18th place in the Conference two points above the relegation zone. On 3 November 2014, Simpson was placed on gardening leave while a review of his position of manager was carried out. He was then sacked and replaced by Chris Moyses.

Barrow

On 9 February 2016, Simpson was appointed as assistant manager of Barrow, but left them in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Gary 1961 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Stoke City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Arnold Town F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Gainsborough Trinity F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. managers Macclesfield Town F.C. managers English Football League managers Barrow A.F.C. non-playing staff Bury F.C. non-playing staff Peterborough United F.C. non-playing staff Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff