Gary Patrick Waddock ( ; born 17 March 1962) is a former professional

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 ...

. He is assistant head coach of

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

. A former

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 spent most of his career playing for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. He also had stints at Belgian club

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

and at

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

and

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 ...

. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland internationally at youth and senior levels, making 21 appearances and scoring 3 goals for the Republic of Ireland senior national team. Having retired from playing in 1998, Waddock went into management, taking over former club Queens Park Rangers in 2006. He went on to manage

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

. He has worked at

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

as head of coaching and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

as assistant and caretaker manager.

Playing career

Waddock grew up in

Alperton Alperton () is an area of north west London, England, within the London Borough of Brent. It forms the southern part of the town of Wembley and is west north-west of Charing Cross. It includes a handful of high-rise and many mid-rise buildings ...

, a suburb of

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, and attended Alperton High School. During his playing career, he appeared professionally (predominantly as a

) for six different

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. He earned 21 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, scoring three

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

in the process. Waddock was named by

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

in the squad for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

, but having travelled to the pre-tournament camp in Malta, he was dropped at the last minute in favour of

Alan McLoughlin Alan Francis McLoughlin (20 April 1967 – 4 May 2021) was an Irish professional footballer and coach, who played as a midfielder for the Republic of Ireland and various English club sides, most notably Swindon Town and Portsmouth. His most notab ...

, seen as better cover for players nursing injuries. Years later Charlton later said that he should have kept Waddock and dropped veteran striker

Frank Stapleton Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...

instead. He debuted for Queens Park Rangers in 1979 and went on to play 203 times and scored eight goals in the following eight years, playing in the

1982 FA Cup Final The 1982 FA Cup Final was the 101st final of the FA Cup and took place on 22 May 1982 at Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers. Tottenham were the cup holders and were hot favourites, while QPR had ...

. He left QPR for

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

in Belgium for three years between 1987 and 1989, making 40 appearances and scoring one goal, before returning to London with

. In two years with Millwall, Waddock appeared 58 times and scored twice for the 'Lions'. By 1991 he was back at QPR although he failed to make the first team and found himself on loan at

where he made six appearances. Following on from his spell at Swindon, Waddock moved to

in 1992, scoring one goal in 71 matches over the next three years. His

swan song The swan song ( grc, κύκνειον ᾆσμα; la, carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful so ...

took place with

. In four years he made 153 appearances and scored his final three professional goals.

Managerial career

Queens Park Rangers

During his time as manager,

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

took Waddock onto the coaching staff at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

at the QPR academy. Waddock found himself the new caretaker manager at QPR following Holloway's suspension on 6 February 2006. Waddock, along with Alan McDonald as his assistant, managed to keep the club in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, finishing 21st. He was appointed full-time manager on 28 June 2006 after Holloway was put on

gardening leave Garden leave (also known as gardening leave) is the practice whereby an employee leaving a job – having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated – is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remainin ...

and eventually left for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On 20 September 2006, after a poor set of results had left QPR bottom of the table, Waddock was replaced by John Gregory. He did, however, stay at the club as assistant manager.

Aldershot Town

He was confirmed as the new manager of Conference side

on 19 May 2007. Waddock won his first trophy on 3 April 2008, when Aldershot Town beat

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

4–3 on penalties in the

Conference League Cup The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference. History The competition was formed for ...

. The Shots finished top of the

Conference National 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-profes ...

with a record 101 points, and were promoted to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

after a 1–1 draw away at

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

gave them the point they needed. The Shots ended the season on an 18-match undefeated run. In recognition of this achievement, Waddock was named Conference manager of the year.

Wycombe Wanderers

Waddock was appointed manager of the League One side on 13 October 2009 as successor to the sacked

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

. Despite a turn in form, and a large turnover of players towards the end of the season, Waddock was unable to prevent Wycombe Wanderers' relegation to

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 ...

. Waddock again added to his squad in the summer by signing Nikki Bull, Andy Sandell and Dave Winfield, who he had previously managed, whilst at Aldershot Town. At the start of 2011, he captured Scott Donnelly on a season long loan, who he previously managed at both Queens Park Rangers and Aldershot Town. Wycombe finished the 2010–11 season by being promoted back to League One (finishing third in League Two) after beating

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

3–1 at

Adams Park Adams Park is an association football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers in League One. It was also leased from 2002 to 2014 to the rugby union club London Was ...

in their final game of the season. However, they were relegated back to League Two the following season. On 22 September, Waddock was sacked as manager after a 1–0 defeat to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

, their third successive defeat, left them 21st in League Two.

Milton Keynes Dons

In June 2013, Waddock was appointed as Head of Coaching at

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

alongside

Karl Robinson Karl Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Oxford United. Playing career Robinson was born in Rainhill, Merseyside. He played for Caernarfon Town, Bamber Bri ...

Oxford United

On 22 March 2014, Waddock was appointed as Head Coach of

, replacing caretaker manager Mickey Lewis. The club failed to reach the League Two play-offs under his managership, losing 7 of the 8 games played during his tenure, and his contract was terminated in July the same year after changes in the club's ownership.

Barnet

Waddock joined

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in a coaching role for the 2014–15 season on a casual basis. In November, he agreed a rolling month-to-month contract, but left for

on 12 December.

Portsmouth

On 12 December 2014, Waddock was announced as the new assistant manager of Portsmouth. On 13 April 2015, Waddock was named as temporary manager for the last four games of the 2014–15 season after

Andy Awford Andrew Terry Awford (born 14 July 1972) is an English association football, football coach and former footballer who was most recently the Youth Academy and Development Manager at Luton Town F.C., Luton Town. Prior to this, he was the manager of ...

left the position by mutual consent.

Return to Aldershot Town

On 5 May 2016, Waddock was reappointed as first-team manager at his former club

of the

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 ...

. On 2 May 2019, Waddock left the club after his contract was mutually terminated following their relegation from the National League.

Southend United

On 5 July 2019, he joined

as assistant manager to Kevin Bond. After Bond's resignation he took caretaker charge of the team until the appointment of

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August 20 ...

Cambridge United

On 10 July 2020, Waddock was appointed Assistant Head Coach of

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a manager

Promotions

* 2007–08:

Champion (promotion to

) –

2010–11 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 ...

Third Place (promotion to

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 ...

) –

Cups

*2007–08:

Winner –

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waddock, Gary 1962 births Living people People from Alperton Footballers from Kingsbury, London English footballers English expatriate footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland under-23 international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football midfielders Queens Park Rangers F.C. players R. Charleroi S.C. players Millwall F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players English Football League players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Belgium English football managers Republic of Ireland football managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Aldershot Town F.C. managers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. managers Portsmouth F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Barnet F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Oxford United F.C. managers Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Southend United F.C. managers Cambridge United F.C. non-playing staff FA Cup Final players