Gary Waddock

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Gary Waddock, born in Kingsbury, London on 17 March 1962, is a former professional footballer. Now unemployed, he was formerly assistant manager, and later manager of, Queens Park Rangers in the Championship. He grew up in Alperton, a suburb of Wembley.

[edit] Playing career

During his playing career, Gary appeared professionally (predominantly as a midfielder) for six different clubs and earned 21 international caps, scoring 3 goals in the process for the Republic of Ireland.

He debuted for Queens Park Rangers in 1979 and went on to play 203 times and scored 8 goals in the following 8 years.

He left QPR for Charleroi in Belgium for two years between 1987 and 1989 before returning to London with Millwall. In two years with Millwall, Gary appeared 58 times and scored twice for the 'Lions'.

By 1991 he was back at QPR although he failed to make the first team and found himself on loan at Swindon Town where he made 6 appearances. Following on from his spell at Swindon, Gary moved to Bristol Rovers in 1992, scoring 1 goal in some 71 matches over the next three years.

Gary's swan song took place with the Hatters at Luton Town. In 4 years he made 153 appearances and scored his final 3 professional goals.

[edit] Managerial career

During his time as manager, Ian Holloway took Gary Waddock onto the coaching staff at Loftus Road at the QPR academy and, while biding his time with the youth and reserve squads, Gary found himself the new caretaker manager at QPR following Ian Holloway's suspension on 6 February 2006.

With the club's performance erratic at the end of the 2006 season and backroom uncertainties never far away, Gary, along with Alan McDonald as his assistant, just managed to keep 'Rangers' in the Championship finishing 21st in their first spell in charge.

He was appointed full-time manager on 28th June 2006 after former manager Ian Holloway was put on Gardening leave and eventually left for Plymouth Argyle. On 20 September 2006, after a poor set of results had left QPR bottom of the table, Waddock was replaced by John Gregory. He did, however, stay at the club as assistant manager. Waddock and Gregory were team-mates for QPR during the mid-80s.