Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. He played a defender and 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 ...

, playing his club football for

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, Stoke City and Blackpool. With Sheffield Wednesday he won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. As an international player, he was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

66 times for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and appeared for them at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Worthington began his managerial career as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

of Blackpool in 1997 before he took over as manager of

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 ...

in 2000. He guided Norwich into the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

in the 2003–04 season as First Division title winners. He left just over two years afterwards, having failed to keep them in the top-flight in 2005. He was briefly caretaker manager of

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in 2007 prior to starting as manager of Northern Ireland, from which he stepped down in 2011.

Club career

Born in Ballymena,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, Worthington played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and a

and started his career with hometown team

in 1979, where he was Ulster Football Writers Young Player of the Year in 1981. He moved into English football with

on 1 July 1981 for a £100,000 fee. Worthington signed for

on 6 February 1984 for a £125,000 fee, and he stayed at the club for over 10 years. He earned

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

into the First Division with Wednesday in the 1983–84 season as

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

runners-up. He was a member of the team that won the

as well as a return into the First Division after finishing in third place in the Second Division in 1990–91. Two years later, Worthington and his teammates were losing finalists in the

1993 FA Cup Final The 1993 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The original match, played on 15 May 1993, finished 1–1. Arsenal won the replay on 20 May, 2–1 after extra-time. It was Arsenal's sixth FA Cup Final victory, ...

. Worthington left Wednesday to sign for

on 4 July 1994 for a £325,000 fee, spending two seasons at the club and one season at Stoke City, after signing on a free transfer on 18 July 1996.

International career

Worthington was

14 times by the Northern Ireland national under-18 team before making his debut for the senior national team in a 1–1 draw away to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in the 1983–84 British Home Championship on 22 May 1984. This was notable for being Northern Ireland's final match in the last ever British Home Championship, the point gained being enough for Northern Ireland to win, and keep in perpetuity, the trophy. In Northern Ireland's subsequent successful qualifying campaign for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Worthington started one qualifying match and came on as a substitute in three more. In the Finals tournament itself, Worthington started two of Northern Ireland's three matches, against

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and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He served as Northern Ireland captain from 1995 to 1996. Worthington's 66th and final cap was gained in Northern Ireland's 3–0 victory in a home friendly against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 11 February 1997.

Managerial career

Blackpool

Worthington's managerial career started as the

at Blackpool on 8 July 1997. He soon retired from playing to take on sole managerial duties, but two and a half seasons in charge ended with his resignation on 23 December 1999 following a dip in form that saw the club lying in the Second Division relegation battle. "I have taken the club as far as I can," he stated.

Norwich City

After acting as assistant to

Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...

with the England under-21 team, Worthington moved to

on 27 June 2000 as assistant to

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

. He was given the role of assistant manager for the Northern Ireland national under-21 team on 22 August, which he shared with his duties at Norwich. He was appointed caretaker manager at Norwich on 4 December after Hamilton resigned, and on 2 January 2001 was appointed as permanent manager. He later saved the club from relegation into the Second Division. The 2001–02 season, Worthington's first full season, saw Norwich reach the 2002 First Division play-off Final, in which they lost to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In his third full season in charge, 2003–04, Worthington took Norwich into the

after winning the First Division championship with a club record 94 points. With one match remaining in 2004–05, Norwich were one point above the relegation zone, but after a 6–0 defeat by Fulham were relegated in 19th place. Norwich were tipped to make an instant return into the Premier League in 2005–06 having retained the majority of their squad. The team failed to mount the expected promotion challenge, which led to some supporters calling for Worthington to leave the club, with Norwich finishing the season ninth 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 ...

table. After a defeat to Plymouth Argyle early in September 2006, Norwich's majority shareholders,

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers t ...

and Michael Wynn-Jones, released a statement expecting Worthington to improve the team's performance in the following matches. Worthington was sacked by Norwich almost immediately after a 4–1 defeat to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

on 1 October, a result that left the team 17th in the table.

Leicester City

Worthington was appointed caretaker manager of relegation threatened Championship club

for the rest of 2006–07 on 11 April 2007. Despite losing his first match to former club Norwich, he was able to steer Leicester to safety and stated his desire to become Leicester's permanent manager. He lost out on the position to

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...

Northern Ireland

Worthington was appointed as manager of Northern Ireland on 1 June 2007, initially on a short-term contract until the end of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in November. At the time of his appointment, Northern Ireland led their qualification group. Although Northern Ireland eventually finished third in their qualification group, the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

gave Worthington a two-year contract in January 2008. This was subsequently renewed in January 2010, lasting until the end of the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...

campaign. However, after a poor UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign he stepped down on 11 October 2011 after the final qualifier against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

York City

Worthington was appointed manager of League Two club

on 4 March 2013, after Gary Mills was sacked two days earlier. His first match in charge was a 3–2 defeat away to AFC Wimbledon on 9 March. On the last day of the season, York won 1–0 away to Dagenham & Redbridge, which secured the club's League Two status, finishing the season in 17th place. He signed a new one-year rolling contract on 3 May. Worthington managed the team that reached the League Two play-offs in 2013–14, in which York were beaten 1–0 on aggregate in the semi-final by Fleetwood Town. He resigned as manager on 13 October 2014 with the team one place above the relegation zone, and was quoted as saying "In recent weeks, performances have not been up to my high standards and I take full responsibility for this".

Personal life

Worthington married Sandra Hopkins in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in 1983. His cousin is fellow manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Ballymena United *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

: 1980–81 *

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. History Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-of ...

: 1980–81 Sheffield Wednesday *

runner-up: 1983–84 *Second Division third-place promotion:

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

As a manager

Norwich City * First Division: 2003–04 Individual * Football League Two Manager of the Month: April 2013, March 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Worthington, Nigel 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Ballymena Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland youth international footballers Northern Ireland international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Ballymena United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Premier League players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Football managers from Northern Ireland Blackpool F.C. managers Norwich City F.C. managers Leicester City F.C. managers Northern Ireland national football team managers York City F.C. managers English Football League managers Premier League managers Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff FA Cup Final players