Neil Warnock announces retirement from football aged 73 after 42 years in management and 16 clubs | Football News

Legendary football manager Neil Warnock has announced his retirement from football after 42 years in management, telling Sky Sports it was “the right time” to move on.

Warnock confirmed his retirement from football during Soccer Saturday having last managed Championship side Middlesbrough, before he left in November 2021.

In total Warnock managed more than 1,600 games across his managerial career, winning a record eight Football League promotions and leading Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff to the Premier League. He also holds the record for the most games managed in English professional football.

“I just thought it was the right time, really, coming towards the end of the season, there’s not really a job you’re going to get before then,” he told Sky Sports. “I’ve had a good run really. I’m enjoying things I’ve not done for years, I’m having a lot of time with the family, my dogs and I’ve taken up cycling too.

“I’m not saying the enthusiasm’s gone, I’ve not lost that, but when I see some of my friends who are struggling health wise, there comes a time where you have to let your family enjoy a little bit more of your time, in particular my wife Sharon.

“When you’re a manager you’re very selfish, you take your job home with you whether you’re on a high or a low and it’s very difficult for your wife and kids.

“It’s hard to replicate the final whistle when you’re won a game, there’s nothing quite like that in normal life, and you have to realise you’re not going to get that buzz again in that situation. But I’m doing a couple of evenings in the theatre, and I imagine I’ll still be nervous before them!”

Warnock began his managerial career with Gainsborough Trinity and Burton Albion before leading Scarborough into the Football League in 1986/87. From there he led Notts County to back-to-back promotions and into the First Division for 1991/92.

He won his third Football League promotion through the play-offs with Huddersfield in 1994/95, before adding a fourth with Plymouth a year later crowned by their first trip to Wembley Stadium. He had his first taste of Premier League management when he led boyhood club Sheffield United to the top flight in 2005/06, and returned there with QPR in 2010/11.

Perhaps his most impressive top-flight promotion came with unfancied Cardiff City in 2017/18 in what would prove to be his penultimate role before moving to Middlesbrough, who he left at the end of last year.

Get tickets to see Neil on stage back in his hometown of Sheffield in September here.