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Neil Warnock set for new job just one week after announcing retirement from football

Neil Warnock confirmed last week that he has retired from management, but he is not expected to quit football altogether as he closes in on a role at a non-league club

Neil Warnock is likely to take on a role at Torquay United
Neil Warnock is likely to take on a role at Torquay United(Image: Getty Images)

Neil Warnock is set to take on a position at National League South side Torquay United, just two months after stepping down as interim manager at Aberdeen.

The 75-year-old spent 33 days and managed eight games in charge of The Dons before leaving the club after guiding them to the Scottish Cup semi-final. Warnock said his departure was a mutual decision.


Last week, Warnock then confirmed that he has retired from football management and will not take another coaching role. It brings to an end a hugely successful 44-year spell for Warnock managing 20 different clubs and still holds the record for the most promotions to the top-flight (four).


Despite that, Warnock is now expected for a return to football with Torquay following the their recent takeover. The Bryn Consortium - made up of local businessmen - have brought the club, subject to approval.

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Warnock, who managed the club back in 1993, has been advising the consortium in their attempt to buy the Devon club, which had been in administration. "Neil's knowledge of football is second to none," New Torquay co-chairman Michael Westcott told BBC Sport.

"He knows our club very well, he knows our region very well. He and I have spent an awful lot of time together over the last six weeks or so and I think that relationship will continue."

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Warnock started his managerial career off at Gainsborough Trinity in 1980 and enjoyed huge success with Burton and Scarborough that decade. The veteran then landed himself in the Premier League for the first time while at Sheffield United and managed 385 matches while at the Blades.

Neil Warnock
Neil Warnock is set for a new football role(Image: PA)

After spells at Leeds, QPR, Crystal Palace and Rotherham, Warnock moved outside of England for the first time in his managerial career as he took over at Cardiff. That is where Warnock achieved his fourth and final promotion to the Premier League, coming second in the Championship in 2018.


Warnock's final managerial stint in English football came at Huddersfield, where he left in September after keeping the club in the second tier. Speaking on the Tippy Tappy Podcast last week, he said: "That's me finally done now, though. I have other things.

"The thing is, I'm enjoying... my son William plays golf, and I've really enjoyed watching him. He's on scratch now and he teaches it down in Cornwall. A few weeks ago I caddied for him at a competition - I couldn't do it for 18 holes! My back wouldn't manage that.

"But I've really enjoyed watching him play. Amy, my daughter, is at a hospital and is a radiotherapist, and my two grown ups are in Leeds and James is in Boston Spa. It's nice to have some time now.


"Sam [Allardyce] will tell you - when you are a manager, you neglect your family. You are that in to football that you sit down to watch Coronation Street and you're not watching Coronation Street. You are thinking about what's happening tomorrow, what's happening Saturday, 'I'm going to have to tell him tomorrow that I'm dropping him'."

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