TT BLOG

Steve Harris

@steveharris84

Steve looks back at the last time Neil Warnock joined the Gulls!

WARNOCK 1993

When Neil Warnock first arrived at Plainmoor in February 1993, his career was at a crossroads.

After coming to people’s attention when he led Scarborough into the Football League in the 1986-87 season, he then guided Notts County to back-to-back promotions (1989-90 & 1990-91) which saw them return to the top flight.

However, after failing to keep the Magpies in the ‘old’ First Division in the 1991-92 – the final season before the creation of the Premier League – he was sacked by County chairman Derek Pavis and was on the verge of walking away from the game for good.

The Gulls were fighting against relegation from the Football League and chairman Mike Bateson made the decision to appoint Warnock as ‘consultant’ to work alongside rookie boss Paul Compton. Warnock was later formally appointed as caretaker manager with Compton returning to his previous role as youth team manager.

United’s squad at that time included young hopefuls such as Darren Moore and Paul Trollope, who would go on to have good careers that would take them to the top-flight – but were still learning their trade at the time. However, Warnock did have some experienced heads to call on, including goalkeeper Kevin Blackwell, who would later serve as his assistant at numerous clubs, and he would bring in Don O’Riordan as player-coach from his former club Notts County, along with Lee Barrow and Gary Chapman.

Nevertheless, he sufficiently improved the Gulls’ fortunes so that they went into their final away game of the season against Carlisle United needing to better Halifax Town’s result against Gillingham.

The Gulls duly delivered as they came away from Brunton Park with a 1-0 win – courtesy of a Duane Darby effort, which was his 13th of the campaign.

On the way back, the squad stopped off at an Italian restaurant in Lancaster to celebrate with a meal and a few drinks. To this day no-one is quite sure who paid the bill, but it would most likely have been Mike Bateson!

United then won his final game in charge at home to fellow strugglers Gillingham 2-1. After the match, Warnock presented the club’s Player of the Year award to Darren Moore, who would later succeed him as Huddersfield Town manager in 2023.

Once the season was done and dusted, he handed the managerial reins over to O’Riordan, as he left Plainmoor for his first spell in charge of Huddersfield.

Warnock would later describe keeping United in the Football League as one of the best achievements of his managerial career and helping to restore his appetite for the game.