Gavin Skelton

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Gavin Skelton
Gavin Skelton.jpg
Skelton playing for Kilmarnock, 2009
Personal information
Full name Gavin Richard Skelton[1]
Date of birth (1981-03-27) 27 March 1981 (age 40)
Place of birth Carlisle, England
Club information
Current team
 Carlisle United (First Team Coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Carlisle United 8 (0)
2000–2001 Workington 42 (1)
2001–2008 Gretna 200 (29)
2008–2010 Kilmarnock 47 (1)
2010–2011 Hamilton Academical 16 (0)
2011–2013 Barrow 82 (1)
2013–2015 Workington 36 (0)
2015–2016 Queen of the South 0 (0)
2017 Annan Athletic 19 (0)
Total 450 (32)
Teams managed
2014–2015 Workington (player-manager)
2016 Queen of the South (player-manager)
2018–2019 Workington
2019 Carlisle United (caretaker)
2021 Carlisle United (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Gavin Richard Skelton (born 27 March 1981) is an English football coach, manager, and former professional footballer. He is currently the first team coach of Carlisle United.

Skelton's playing career including a 7-year spell at Gretna as well as stints at Carlisle United, Workington (two spells), Kilmarnock, Hamilton Academical, Barrow and Queen of the South.

Skelton began his managerial career at Workington. After a stint as assistant manager at Queen of the South, Skelton was then manager of the club from April to November 2016.

Playing career[]

Skelton was born on 27 March 1981, in Carlisle, England. He started his career at Carlisle United as a trainee. In 1997, after three years at Brunton Park he moved to non-League club Workington Reds and one year later joined then Northern Premier League outfit Gretna. Gretna joined the Scottish Football League in 2002, eventually gaining promotion to the Scottish Premier League during the 2006–07 season. In the 2006 Scottish Cup Final versus Hearts, Skelton missed the crucial kick in the penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw.[2] His miss denied Gretna their first major trophy, however they still qualified for the UEFA Cup as a result of their run to the final.

Due to Gretna's financial difficulties, in April 2008 it was reported that Skelton was in talks with Kilmarnock and Aberdeen[3] On 19 May 2008, Skelton was one of the remaining 40 staff members who were released by Gretna.[4] Two days earlier, Skelton had scored the winning goal on his side's final SPL fixture against Hearts.[5] In June 2008, Skelton signed for SPL side Kilmarnock but left the club under freedom of contract in June 2010.[6]

After his release from Killie, Skelton signed for Hamilton Academical.[7] He was released by Hamilton following their relegation from the SPL in May 2011 and signed for Barrow on 6 July 2011.[8]

On 22 December 2016, Skelton was tempted back to sign for Scottish League Two club Annan Athletic as a player, after he resigned as player-manager of Queen of the South on 7 November 2016 for personal reasons.[9]

Coaching career[]

In order to gain coaching and managerial experience, Skelton coached the Stirling University team part-time, whilst playing for Kilmarnock.

Skelton was appointed as the manager of Workington in May 2014, replacing Ian MacDonald.[10] He had joined the Reds as a player-coach in 2013.[11] Skelton led the Borough Park side to the Northern Premier League Play-offs in his only full season in charge,[12] finally falling to Ilkeston in front of 1,500 supporters at Borough Park.

Skelton left Workington in June 2015 to be the assistant manager at Queen of the South in Dumfries.[12][13] Skelton was appointed caretaker manager of Queens on 18 April 2016 after James Fowler departed the club.[14] Just over a month later, Skelton was appointed Queens player-manager on a permanent basis on 23 May 2016.[15] Skelton resigned from Queens on 7 November 2016 for personal reasons.[16]

Skelton joined Carlisle United as the coach of their academy in May 2017.[17]

On 31 December 2018, Skelton was reappointed manager of Workington, however he resigned in January 2019 after just six days and two games in charge of the club.[18]

On 4 June 2019, Carlisle United announced that they had appointed Skelton as assistant manager.[19] He served as caretaker manager for two games, and signed a contract extension in November 2019.[20]

Personal life[]

Skelton married Rebecca on 12 June 2015 and the couple had a son during the summer of 2016. They live together in Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria. Skelton's sister, Helen, is a television presenter who formerly worked on the popular children's television programme Blue Peter.

Managerial statistics[]

As of 7 November 2016
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Queen of the South[21] 22 April 2016 7 November 2016 22 12 3 7 054.5
Total 22 12 3 7 054.5

References[]

  1. ^ "Gavin Skelton". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Hearts 1–1 Gretna (4–2 on pens)". BBC Sport. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  3. ^ "Kilmarnock Could offer SPL Lifeline to Gretna's Gavin Skelton". Daily Record. 15 April 2008.
  4. ^ "Gretna lay off remaining 40 staff". BBC Sport. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  5. ^ "Gretna 1–0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  6. ^ "Skelton signs on for Kilmarnock". BBC News. BBC Sport. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Hamilton Accies sign up Skelton". BBC Sport. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  8. ^ "Major Signing Announced". Barrow A.F.C. 6 July 2011. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  9. ^ SKELTON SIGNS ON AT GALABANK‚ annanathleticfc.com, 22 December 2016
  10. ^ "Skelton appointed Workington Reds manager". News and Star. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Gavin Skelton signs for Workington Reds as player coach". News and Star. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Queen of the South: Gavin Skelton signs on as player-assistant". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Skelton named assistant at Palmerston". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Manager Departs". Queen of the South FC. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Queen of the South: Gavin Skelton takes over as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Queen of the South: Gavin Skelton exits as manager after six months". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Gavin Skelton joins Carlisle United as academy coach". News and Star. May 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Gavin Skelton quits as Workington manager after just six days". The Non-League Paper. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  19. ^ BREAKING: Skelton appointed as assistant manager, carlisleunited.co.uk, 4 June 2019
  20. ^ "Gavin Skelton: Carlisle United assistant head coach signs contract extension". BBC Sport. 28 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Gavin Skelton | Latest Betting Odds | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.

External links[]

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