Neil Warnock will be in charge of Huddersfield for the rest of the season as they aim to avoid relegation from the Championship; Warnock, 74, retired in April last year after 42 years in management and 16 clubs; Huddersfield are second from bottom and travel to Stoke on Wednesday night
Monday 13 February 2023 14:52, UK
Neil Warnock has made a sensational return to management at Huddersfield Town after retiring just 10 months ago.
Warnock confirmed his retirement from football last April during Soccer Saturday having last managed Championship side Middlesbrough, who he left in November 2021.
But after 42 years in management and 16 clubs, the 74-year-old has returned to the dugout at troubled Huddersfield to lead their survival battle.
The Terriers sit second bottom, one point from safety and travel to Stoke on Wednesday night. Interim head coach Narcis Pelach will take charge of the fixture before returning to his previous role as coach under Warnock, who will also be assisted by Huddersfield's former striker Ronnie Jepson.
Warnock returns to the club having first managed them in 1993, winning the Second Division play-offs two years later, and wants to "put smiles on faces".
"I'm really excited about this challenge," said Warnock. "My first spell at Huddersfield had everything; we went to Wembley twice, moved into the new stadium, and really built the club from nothing. It was a special time.
"I'm coming back to help the club, but also Dean Hoyle (chairman). I know what he has done behind the scenes and I've always had a lot of time for him.
"I've looked at the fixtures and we've got some fantastic games to come. I want to come back and put smiles on faces."
In total, Warnock has 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.
Warnock had been in discussions with a number of clubs following his departure from Middlesbrough, but was unsure about dropping divisions after managing for the past two decades in the top two leagues of English football.
He began his managerial career with Gainsborough Trinity and Burton Albion before leading Scarborough into the Football League in 1986/87. From there he won Notts County back-to-back promotions and into the First Division for 1991/92.
He achieved 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 the Riverside until the end of last year.
Neil Warnock to Sky Sports in April 2022 on retiring from management:
"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.
"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've 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!"
