Adrian Pennock

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Personal information
Adrian Pennock
Full name	Adrian Barry Pennock
Date of birth	March 27, 1971 (age 36)
Place of birth	Ipswich, England
Nickname	Penns, Football Genius
Playing position	Central defender
Club information
Current club	Welling United (manager)
Youth clubs
1986-1989	Norwich City
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989-1992 1990 1992-1996 1996-2003 2003-2005	Norwich City Molde F.K. (loan) AFC Bournemouth Gillingham Gravesend & Northfleet	001 (0) unknown 131 (9) 169 (2) 014 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Adrian Barry Pennock (born 27 March 1971 in Ipswich) is a retired English footballer (soccer) player turned manager. He currently manages Welling United of the Conference South after a playing career spent mainly at AFC Bournemouth and Gillingham.

1 Playing career
2 Managerial career
3 References
4 Sources
5 External links

[edit] Playing career

Although born in Ipswich and having grown up supporting Ipswich Town, Pennock began his career with their fiercest rivals, Norwich City, where he progressed through the ranks to turn professional in 1989. He was only to manage one appearance for the Canaries' first team, however, and in 1992 he was allowed to move to AFC Bournemouth for a fee of £30,000. He was a regular for the Cherries until he suffered a knee injury in December 1995 and was unable to regain his place in the team. In October 1996 his former Bournemouth manager, Tony Pulis signed him for Gillingham for £25,000.

Pennock spent over six years at Priestfield Stadium where he was a regular in the first team until a recurring knee injury took its toll. He developed a reputation as a practical joker whilst with Gillingham - during one pre-season friendly he switched on the pitch sprinkler system during the match. He also scored a memorable own goal against Wigan Athletic in 2000 which spawned a recurring terrace chant of "He only scores own goals". Such was his affinity with the fans that he even acquired his own fan club. On the pitch, he was named captain for the play-off final in 2001 which saw the Gills promoted to the Football League First Division for the first time in their history.

Injuries forced Pennock to retire from League football in 2003, after which he signed for Football Conference side Gravesend & Northfleet, where he was also assistant manager.

[edit] Managerial career

In January 2005 Pennock was appointed manager of Welling United of the Conference South and by the end of the season had guided them to their best league position for six years.

In January 2006 he was involved in a dispute with Gillingham chairman Paul Scally over a testimonial match which Pennock alleges he was promised as part of his final contract at Gillingham but which never materialised. ^[1]