Blackpool Worthington's managerial career started as the
player-manager at
Blackpool on 8 July 1997. "I have taken the club as far as I can," he stated. He was given the role of assistant manager for the
Northern Ireland national under-21 team on 22 August, which he shared with his duties at Norwich. He later saved the club from relegation into the Second Division. The
2001–02 season, Worthington's first full season, saw Norwich reach the
2002 First Division play-off final, in which they lost to
Birmingham City in a
penalty shoot-out. In his third full season in charge,
2003–04, Worthington took Norwich into the
Premier League after winning the
First Division championship with a club record 94 points. With one match remaining in
2004–05, Norwich were one point above the relegation zone, but after a 6–0 defeat by
Fulham were relegated in 19th place. Norwich were tipped to make an instant return into the Premier League in
2005–06 having retained the majority of their squad. The team failed to mount the expected promotion challenge, which led to some supporters calling for Worthington to leave the club, with Norwich finishing the season ninth in the
Championship table. After a defeat to
Plymouth Argyle early in September 2006, Norwich's majority shareholders,
Delia Smith and
Michael Wynn-Jones, released a statement expecting Worthington to improve the team's performance in the following matches. Worthington was sacked by Norwich almost immediately after a 4–1 defeat to
Burnley on 1 October, a result that left the team 17th in the table.
Leicester City Worthington was appointed
caretaker manager of relegation threatened Championship club
Leicester City for the rest of
2006–07 on 11 April 2007. Despite losing his first match to former club Norwich, he was able to steer Leicester to safety and stated his desire to become Leicester's permanent manager. He lost out on the position to
Martin Allen.
Northern Ireland Worthington was appointed as manager of Northern Ireland on 1 June 2007, initially on a short-term contract until the end of the
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in November. At the time of his appointment, Northern Ireland led
their qualification group. This was subsequently renewed in January 2010, lasting until the end of the
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. However, after a poor UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign he stepped down on 11 October 2011 after the final qualifier against
Italy.
York City Worthington was appointed manager of
League Two club
York City on 4 March 2013, after
Gary Mills was sacked two days earlier. His first match in charge was a 3–2 defeat away to
AFC Wimbledon on 9 March. On the last day of the season, York won 1–0 away to
Dagenham & Redbridge, which secured the club's League Two status, finishing the season in 17th place. He signed a new one-year rolling contract on 3 May. Worthington managed the team that reached the
League Two play-offs in 2013–14, in which York were beaten 1–0 on aggregate in the semi-final by
Fleetwood Town. He resigned as manager on 13 October 2014 with the team one place above the relegation zone, and was quoted as saying "In recent weeks, performances have not been up to my high standards and I take full responsibility for this". ==Personal life==