Greg Abbott (footballer)

Coventry City Abbott was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, on 14 December 1963.{{cite book Bradford City Abbott had to wait eight months for his first team debut, which came in a 3–1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at right back.{{cite book Abbott became a more regular member of the first team the following season as City won just one of their first 15 games,{{cite book During the summer of 1984, City signed winger John Hendrie, who had played with Abbott at Coventry, as well as defender Dave Evans.{{cite book City played their home games at a number of grounds during the 1985–86 season during the redevelopment of their Valley Parade ground. That season, Abbott had his best season in terms of goals, scoring 13 times, which included ten in the league, and a total of nine penalties; his tally helped Abbott to be the club's joint top goalscorer tied with John Hendrie. Despite having no home ground, City finished in mid-table in Division Two.{{cite book On 16 September 1987, Abbott scored the first hat-trick of his career to give City a 3–1 victory against Plymouth Argyle and elevate them to the top of the division. City remained in promotion contention for most of the season, with Abbott playing 32 games, though he did not start in any of the final eight fixtures, as City missed out on promotion after losing the final two matches.{{cite book As a result of the defeat, both Stuart McCall and John Hendrie left the club and City could not maintain their form finishing in the bottom half for the first time in three years.{{cite book John Docherty had taken over as City manager and Abbott's first team opportunities were limited with Docherty favouring a number of players he had bought from his former team Millwall. Abbott left City at the end of the first season back in Division Three one season short of his testimonial year, with his last start coming in January 1991. He had played 281 league games with the club, scoring 38 goals. Abbott claimed Docherty had split the dressing room and said: "I thought John Docherty was a disaster." Later career Abbott signed for City's West Yorkshire neighbours Halifax Town for a fee of £25,000.{{cite web ==Coaching career==

Leeds United When he finished his playing career, Abbott was invited to join the Leeds United coaching staff, by Ces Podd, who had played with Abbott at Bradford City. Abbott worked with Brian Kidd at Leeds' academy with the teams from under 10s to under 18s level. He also had a brief stint as reserves team manager, but wanted to coach senior teams. He turned down an offer from Paul Jewell, another player Abbott knew from his time at Bradford City, to do some short-term coaching at Wigan Athletic. Five months after leaving Guiseley, he also combined his role at Leeds, with that of joint manager of Thackley, a role he shared with another former Guiseley coach Brendan Hudson. He resigned in January 1999, to concentrate on his role with Leeds United as well as radio commentary with BBC Radio Leeds. before Carlisle appointed Cheltenham Town manager John Ward as their new boss in October; Abbott's first game as caretaker was an FA Cup game with Conference National-side Grays Athletic, in which they were only six minutes from being knocked out, before a late equaliser avoided an upset to force a replay. He won three games while in caretaker charge and was appointed the club's permanent manager on 5 December 2008 on an 18-month contract. After a poor start to the 2013–14 season Abbott was sacked on 9 September 2013. Notts County On 6 November 2013, Abbott was appointed Assistant Manager to Shaun Derry at Notts County. He was sacked in March 2015. Bradford City After a spell at Cambridge United, he returned to Bradford City as Chief Scout in July 2016. He became caretaker manager in February 2018. He became assistant manager in June 2018. He said he was happy to be the third member of the three-man management set-up. He left the club in November 2018. He later spoke about how "tough" it was working for then-chairman Edin Rahic, and how he felt the club had found itself again with new manager Gary Bowyer. Mansfield Town He became Head of Football Operations for Mansfield Town in December 2018. He left the club in May 2019. Return to Notts County On 19 August 2020, Abbot rejoined Notts County as assistant manager to Neal Ardley. On 24 March 2021, it was announced that Greg and Neal Ardley would be leaving the club. Return to Carlisle United In May 2022 he became head of recruitment at Carlisle United. He left the role in May 2025. Harrogate Town In August 2025 he joined the youth coaching staff at Harrogate Town. ==Personal life==

In April 2018, it was announced that Abbott was suffering from prostate cancer. In May 2018 Abbott underwent an operation and returned to work. ==Managerial statistics==

:Updated 10 February 2018{{cite web |url=https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=2085 ==Honours==

Carlisle United • Football League Trophy: 2010–11; runner-up: 2009–10 ==References==