Gavin Richard Skelton (born 27 March 1981) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, manager, and former professional footballer who is currently a first-team coach at

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. As a player, he was primarily deployed as a defensive midfielder. Skelton's playing career including a seven-year spell at Gretna as well as stints at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

(two spells),

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

, Barrow and Queen of the South. Skelton began his managerial career at

. After a stint as assistant manager at Queen of the South, Skelton was then manager of the club from April to November 2016.

Playing career

Skelton was born on 27 March 1981, in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, England. He started his career at

as a trainee. In 1997, after three years at

Brunton Park Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949. The ground opened in 1909. Brunton Park's grandstand burned down in 1953 and the stadium floode ...

he moved to

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Workington Reds and one year later joined then

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

outfit Gretna. Gretna joined the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

in 2002, eventually gaining promotion to the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

during the 2006–07 season. In the 2006 Scottish Cup Final versus Hearts, Skelton missed the crucial kick in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

after a 1–1 draw. His miss denied Gretna their first major trophy, however they still qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

as a result of their run to the final. Due to Gretna's financial difficulties, in April 2008 it was reported that Skelton was in talks with

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

On 19 May 2008, Skelton was one of the remaining 40 staff members who were released by Gretna. Two days earlier, Skelton had scored the winning goal in his side's final SPL fixture against Hearts. In June 2008, Skelton signed for SPL side Kilmarnock but left the club under freedom of contract in June 2010. After his release from Killie, Skelton signed for

. He was released by Hamilton following their relegation from the SPL in May 2011 and signed for Barrow on 6 July 2011. On 22 December 2016, Skelton was tempted back to sign for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

club Annan Athletic as a player, after he resigned as player-manager of Queen of the South on 7 November 2016 for personal reasons.

Coaching career

In order to gain coaching and managerial experience, Skelton coached the Stirling University team part-time, whilst playing for

. Skelton was appointed as the manager of

in May 2014, replacing

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

. He had joined the Reds as a player-coach in 2013. Skelton led the Borough Park side to the

Play-offs in his only full season in charge, finally falling to

Ilkeston Ilkeston ( ) is a town located in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, England, with a population of 40,953 at the 2021 census. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared. Part of t ...

in front of 1,500 supporters at Borough Park. Skelton left Workington in June 2015 to be the assistant manager at Queen of the South in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

. Skelton was appointed

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

of Queens on 18 April 2016 after James Fowler departed the club. Just over a month later, Skelton was appointed Queens

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

on a permanent basis on 23 May 2016. Skelton resigned from Queens on 7 November 2016 for personal reasons. Skelton joined Carlisle United as the coach of their academy in May 2017. On 31 December 2018, Skelton was reappointed manager of Workington, however he resigned in January 2019 after just six days and two games in charge of the club. On 4 June 2019,

announced that they had appointed Skelton as assistant manager. He served as caretaker manager for two games, and signed a contract extension in November 2019. On 7 November 2024, Skelton was appointed first-team coach at

Personal life

Skelton married Rebecca on 12 June 2015 and the couple had a son during the summer of 2016. They live together in

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. Skelton's sister, Helen, is a

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

and broadcaster who formerly worked on the popular children's television programme ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

''.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton, Gavin 1981 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Carlisle United F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Gretna F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Barrow A.F.C. players English football managers Workington A.F.C. managers Queen of the South F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Queen of the South F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. non-playing staff Carlisle United F.C. managers Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff People educated at Appleby Grammar School 21st-century English sportsmen