Neil Warnock confirms retirement from management

Neil Warnock has confirmed that he does not plan to return to football management.

The iconic 73-year-old has been out of work since leaving Middlesbrough in November 2021, shortly after breaking the record for most games managed in professional English football - 1,603.

Appearing on Sky Sports, Warnock was asked if he was looking to return to management, but he confirmed that his plan is to step away from the game.

"I just thought it was the right time, really, coming towards the end of the season, there's not really a job you're going to get before then," he said. "I've had a good run really. I'm enjoying things I've not done for years, I'm having a lot of time with the family, my dogs and I've taken up cycling too.

"I'm not saying the enthusiasm's gone, I've not lost that, but when I see some of my friends who are struggling health wise, there comes a time where you have to let your family enjoy a little bit more of your time, in particular my wife Sharon.

"When you're a manager you're very selfish, you take your job home with you whether you're on a high or a low and it's very difficult for your wife and kids.

"It's hard to replicate the final whistle when you're won a game, there's nothing quite like that in normal life, and you have to realise you're not going to get that buzz again in that situation. But I'm doing a couple of evenings in the theatre, and I imagine I'll still be nervous before them!"

It brings an end to one of the most famous careers in the history of the British game, which saw the former winger manage 16 different clubs and set the record for the most promotions in English football (eight).

Beginning at non-league side Gainsborough Trinity in 1980, Warnock spent five years with Burton Albion before winning promotion to the Football League with Scarborough in 1987.

He then made his name with Notts County, who he led from the Third Division all the way up to the top tier in successive seasons, although he was sacked in 1993 after the team were relegated in their first year in the First Division - the season before it rebranded as the Premier League.

Spells with Torquay United, Huddersfield Town, Plymouth Argyle, Oldham Athletic and Bury followed, before a career-defining move to boyhood club Sheffield United in 1999.

In 2002/03, the Blades made it to the semi-finals of both the League Cup and FA Cup as well as the First Division play-off, only to fall in all three. It was the first time Warnock had ever lost a play-off.

Promotion to the Premier League followed in 2006 but he would resign one year later after relegation back to the second tier and would then move to Crystal Palace.

Warnock kept Palace in the second tier before switching to Queens Park Rangers and returning to the Premier League in 2011.

A short spell with Leeds United followed before Warnock returned to Palace, only to be sacked just four months into his contract.

He would then return to QPR before a short spell at Rotherham, and eventually landed at Cardiff City in 2016. He led the Bluebirds back to the Premier League in 2017/18 in what would be his final taste of the top flight.

Warnock's final gig came with Boro, who he saved from relegation to the third tier before leaving for good in November 2021.