Who Are The League One Managers? No.23: Gareth Ainsworth (Wycombe Wanderers)

In keeping with the nature of things in the lower reaches of the Football League, there are numerous managers in League One this season who are relatively unknown outside of their own club. One man who needs no introduction to supporters in the lower divisions or anywhere else is Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth.

For someone who made over 600 appearances in a 25-year playing career, Ainsworth got off to an inconsistent start. Beginning his career at the age of sixteen with home town club Blackburn, Ainsworth was released after two seasons without making an appearance and joined Conference side Northwich Victoria. After a few months, he was picked up by Third Division strugglers Preston in January 1992, but his stay was very short and he was released at the end of the season after a handful of games. His next stop was First Division side Cambridge United in July 1992, his first association with manager John Beck, and spent a brief period on loan at former club Northwich in September. When Beck was appointed manager at Preston a few months later, he took Ainsworth with him after just six months at the Abbey Stadium.

It was during this second spell at Preston that Ainsworth finally began to realise his potential, although things got off to a disappointing start with relegation to the new Third Division (tier 4) at the end of that first season. Preston made an immediate bid for a return to the Second Division in 1993-94, finishing fifth before losing 4-2 to future club Wycombe Wanderers in the Wembley play-off final. Preston finished fifth the following season too, but this time the play-off campaign ended at the semi-final stage with two 1-0 defeats to Lancashire neighbours Bury. Manager Beck departed at the end of that season and was appointed manager at Lincoln in October 1995, already Lincoln’s third manager of the season. One of Beck’s first moves was to sign Ainsworth from Preston for £25,000, and he made his debut in a 2-1 win at Mansfield on 1 November 1995, City’s first win for 14 league games. Ironically, their only other league win had come on the opening day of the season at Preston. City won the next away game too, with Ainsworth scoring his first two goals for the club in a 2-0 win at Torquay. Ainsworth’s 12 goals from 31 league games helped City to improve steadily and finish 19th, and he was deservedly voted Player of the Season by the supporters at Sincil Bank.

The 1996-97 season was to prove memorable as Ainsworth’s 22 league goals almost fired City to a playoff spot. A great run in the League Cup saw City beat Manchester City twice and draw away at Southampton before losing a controversial replay in front of 10,523 at Sincil Bank. A 2-0 home defeat to strugglers Rochdale on the final day saw City finish 9th, just 3 points short of the playoffs – a win would have taken them above Cardiff into 7th. Consolation came with a place in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year and the Lincoln City Player of the Season award for the second season running, the first player to win successive awards since Trevor Peake in 1981. City went on to win promotion the following season, but they did it without their talisman: Ainsworth was sold to First Division Port Vale for £500,000 in September 1997. Although his time at Sincil Bank was limited to little over two-and-a-half years, he was voted 4th in the Lincoln City Legends poll in 2007. He scored an impressive 41 goals in his 97 appearances.

His time at Port Vale was to prove even shorter, with just the 1997-98 season to speak of. Although the goals dried up at the higher level, Ainsworth was voted Player of the Season at Vale Park – his third successive award. Vale avoided relegation by a single point, and started the 1998-99 season in similar vein. On 29 October 1998, he moved to Premier League Wimbledon for a club-record £2m, ironically after four successive wins had taken Vale out of the bottom three. The transfer made him one of the very few Lincoln players to go on to appear in the Premier League, and also to realise a multi-million-pound fee.

His time at Wimbledon was to be a disappointing one in terms of game time, as a combination of injuries and a revolving managerial door limited him to just 36 league appearances in five seasons, just 10 of which came in the Premier League. His arrival at the club coincided with the departure through ill-health of Joe Kinnear, and there followed a dramatic downturn in form. Wimbledon were relegated in 1999-00 and have not been back since. Ainsworth did score his only two Premier League goals that season, both coming in a 3-3 draw at Newcastle on 21 August 1999, but that was one of only two appearances in the league side. He featured slightly more regularly in the First Division in 2000-01 as Wimbledon stabilised in 8th place, and 9th the following season. He joined former club Preston on loan in April 2002 but was surprisingly given a new contract on his return. After a handful of appearances at the start of 2002-03 and a brief loan spell at Walsall in December, he finally departed for Cardiff City on a short-term deal in March 2003.

His time at Cardiff was very brief but successful, making 9 appearances as they won promotion from the Second Division via the play-offs. Ainsworth did not feature in the final and was released at the end of the season. After considering a number of offers, he decided to sign for Queens Park Rangers in July 2003, ironically the club beaten in the Second Division play-off final by Cardiff. Ainsworth got off to a great start at Loftus Road, scoring regularly in the early part of the season and helping Rangers to promotion in his first season. He remained a regular feature for the next four seasons as QPR struggled to re-establish themselves at Championship level.

During the 2007-08 season, he began to assist with coaching duties, and was appointed player-coach in May 2008 under new manager Ian Dowie. When Dowie was sacked in October 2008 after just 15 games, Ainsworth was appointed caretaker manager and kept QPR in mid-table until new manager Paulo Sousa took over. Sousa did not last much longer than Dowie, and Ainsworth again took over until the end of the season. He remained on QPR’s books as player-coach under Jim Magilton in 2009-10, but the managerial bug had bitten; he was linked with a return to Lincoln as manager to replace Peter Jackson in September 2009 but lost out to Chris Sutton. With his playing career seemingly winding down, he joined League One Wycombe Wanderers on an initial one-month loan in November 2009 and signed permanently in February 2010. He went straight into the first team, but the season ended in disappointment as Wycombe were relegated back to the basement after one solitary season in the third tier.

Contrary to the belief that he was nearing his end as a player, Ainsworth was almost ever-present as Wycombe won automatic promotion back to League One at the first attempt in 2010-11, a season which will be remembered by Lincoln fans for very different reasons. Ainsworth was even named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year at the age of 38 and earned a new one-year contract. However, Wycombe’s yo-yo existence continued in 2011-12 with immediate relegation back to League Two, where they were destined to remain for six years.

Wycombe got off to a very poor start in 2012-13, and manager Gary Waddock was sacked on 24 September with the side bottom of the league with four points. Ainsworth took over on a caretaker basis and a slow improvement saw him given the job permanently in November. A run of 9 wins from 13 games carried them up the table by mid-February, and the season ended with Wycombe 9 points clear of relegation. At the end of the season, he was given a new two-year contract and announced his retirement from playing after 599 first-class appearances.

His first full season as a manager in 2013-14 proved no easier. Wanderers flirted with the relegation places for most of the season, suffering from a revolving door of players, and a 2-1 home defeat by relegation-rivals Bristol Rovers in their penultimate match left them 3 points from safety. They went into the final day needing to win at already-relegated Torquay, and needing either Bristol Rovers or Northampton to lose. Wanderers won 3-0 to retain their Football League status on goal difference courtesy of Bristol Rovers’ 1-0 home defeat by Mansfield. It had been the narrowest of escapes, and it inspired Wycombe to a far better season in 2014-15. There was more drama on the final day of the season with Wycombe needing to win to stand a chance of automatic promotion. This time, a 97th-minute winner at Northampton proved in vain as Bury’s 1-0 win at relegated Tranmere denied them the final promotion berth. A 5-3 aggregate win over Plymouth in the play-off semi-final took them to Wembley where they went down 7-6 on penalties to Southend United. Consolation of a kind came in the form of the LMA League Two Manager of the Year award and a new five-and-a-half-year contract from Wycombe.

Great things were expected in 2015-16, but the anticipated promotion challenge could not be sustained. A 2-0 home win over Crawley left them in 5th place at the midway stage, but failure to win any of their last 8 games saw them finish in mid-table. 2016-17 showed a similar pattern, with a good start negated by a mid-season slump which realised just one win from ten games. A run of just two defeats from their final thirteen games created some excitement during the run-in, but Wanderers fell one point and an inferior goal difference short of the play-offs. Wycombe also reached the fourth round of the FA Cup where they lost 4-3 at Spurs after leading 2-0 at half-time, and the semi-final of the Checkatrade Trophy where they lost to eventual winners Coventry. The season was also notable for one final appearance by Ainsworth, as a substitute in the Checkatrade game against Northampton in August 2016.

Wycombe made a couple of astute signings during the 2017 close season in Craig Mackail-Smith and Nathan Tyson, and sustained their promotion challenge for the entire season despite having one of the lowest budgets in the division. Seven wins and a draw from eight games in the new year took them into the top three where they stayed to the final day. A win at relegated Chesterfield with a game to spare confirmed promotion in third place, the first of Ainsworth’s managerial career, and he was given a new three-year contract. The 2018-19 season back in League One was a rollercoaster from the first game. Wycombe were stuck in the bottom four until October when a run of seven wins from ten games briefly took them to the edge of the play-offs by December. However, a dismal haul of one point from ten games took them back to the danger zone by April. Safety was not confirmed until the penultimate game, ironically with a 2-1 defeat to relegation rivals AFC Wimbledon. The final placing of seventeenth was their best finish since 2002.

And so we arrive at 2019-20, Gareth Ainsworth’s eighth season in charge at Wycombe. And ‘in charge’ would be about right. Besides his managerial duties, Ainsworth also has a hand in the financial running of the club and has even done odd jobs around the place when required. On the playing side, he still turns out for local Sunday League side Finchampstead Athletic at the age of 46 and won a cup winners’ medal with them in May 2019. Known for his love of playing rock guitar, he has featured enthusiastically in a number of bands throughout his football career. Quite what 2019-20 will bring is anyone’s guess, but Ainsworth is now a very experienced operator in football management. Regardless of respective league positions, one thing is assured: Gareth Ainsworth will receive a great reception when he returns to Sincil Bank in April.

Key:

P = Promoted; R = Relegated; SF = Lost in play-off semi-final; F = Lost in play-off final; PO = Won play-off final; D = Demoted.

Figures are league games only; cup matches and play-offs are not included.

League position shown is either the position at the end of the season or the position at the time of departure.

Writer: Scotimp