Gregor Abel (born 9 April 1949) is a Scottish former football player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. Abel played for Falkirk, Clydebank and

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

. After retiring as a player, he became a coach at

and then Falkirk, assisting

Alex Totten Alex Totten (born 12 February 1946) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Playing career Growing up in Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire, he signed for Liverpool straight from school in 1960 before signing for top division Dundee bac ...

. Abel was appointed Falkirk manager in November 1983, after Totten left the club to become assistant manager of Rangers. He resigned in February 1984 due to the pressures of combining that job with working as a schoolteacher. Abel assisted

Jim Leishman Jim Leishman MBE (born 15 November 1953) is a Scottish Labour Party politician and former professional footballer who is currently Provost of Fife and an honorary director of Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic. Career Player ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

rose from the

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

to the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

with successive promotions in 1985–86 and 1986–87. Abel left Dunfermline in July 1987 after the club converted to fully professional status, however, because he wanted to retain part-time status and continue his teaching career. After leaving Dunfermline, Abel became assistant manager of

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

. Later that year, Abel was appointed manager of

. The club won a promotion under his management and reached the quarter-finals of the 1988–89 Scottish Cup. Abel was sacked by Alloa Athletic in February 1990 as the club struggled in the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

, having won promotion the season before. Abel then worked as a reserve team and youth coach for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

for eight years. He then had five years with Rangers as a youth coach. He continued to teach at Alva Academy until his retirement in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Gregor 1949 births Living people Scottish footballers Association football fullbacks Bo'ness United F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1965) players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Falkirk F.C. managers Alloa Athletic F.C. managers Aberdeen F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League managers