Kevin Nancekivell (born 22 October 1971) is an English football manager and former player, who is the First Team Coach of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. As a player, Nancekivell was an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He mainly competed at a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

level, spending most of his career at Tiverton Town, although he did have a short stint as a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

at Argyle.

Playing career

Originally from a farming background Nancekivell played for

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

before joining Tiverton Town in 1996. He was a regular scorer from midfield, finishing as the club's top goalscorer twice, before being given a chance in the professional game at the age of 28 by

manager

Kevin Hodges Kevin Hodges (born 12 June 1960) is an English retired football player and manager who played as a midfielder, and now works as assistant manager at Dorchester Town. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle of the Foo ...

. He made six league appearances as a substitute, scoring his first goal against

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 ...

on 21 October 2000, but fell out of

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

contention after the arrival of

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

. Nancekivell re-joined Tiverton Town on loan in January 2001 and returned to Ladysmead permanently that summer. He scored Tiverton's consolation goal in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round defeat against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in November 2001.

Coaching career

After retiring, Nancekivell took a job at Plymouth Argyle's youth coaching centre of excellence in 2005. He was promoted to coaching the first team in 2010. In January 2013 he was appointed as joint

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 ...

with

Romain Larrieu Romain Larrieu (born 31 August 1976) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most notably in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle. He started his career at Montpellier in 1994. After failing to make an appearanc ...

following the sacking of Carl Fletcher. The duo lost their only game in charge, 4–0 to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. Nancekivell was released from his contract as First team coach following a backroom reshuffle by new manager John Sheridan however, he was offered an alternative role at the club and on 4 July 2013 he accepted a youth coaching role designed to help with youth team players' progression from the Academy to first-team football while also helping with the progress of some of the newer academy coaches. In January 2014, Nancekivell was appointed as Professional Development Phase Coach for 17 to 21 year-olds at Torquay United, however following the closure of Torquay's Youth Department in May 2015, he made a return to Plymouth Argyle as Head of Academy Coaching. In June 2017, Nancekivell was awarded his UEFA Pro Licence and in May 2018 he was appointed as a first-team coach at Argyle, following the departure of

Craig Brewster Craig James Brown Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, D ...

. After

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of National League football club Morecambe. Adams became manager of Ross County in 2007, winning promotion from the Scottish Second Divisio ...

was sacked in April 2019, Nancekivell was appointed caretaker manager of Plymouth Argyle for their final match of the 2018–19 season. Following the appointment of Ryan Lowe as Plymouth Argyle manager in June 2019, Nancekivell retained his role as first team coach. In July 2021, he graduated from the University of Liverpool with the LMA Diploma in Football Management. Following the departure of

Steven Schumacher Steven Thomas Schumacher (born 30 April 1984) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is currently head coach of club Bolton Wanderers. He graduated from the youth sides at Everton, and during his playing caree ...

as Manager of Plymouth Argyle on 19 December 2023, Nancekivell and

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

Neil Dewsnip Neil David Dewsnip (born 13 August 1961) is an English football coach. Dewsnip had been a youth player at Liverpool and later worked as a teacher at a number of schools before becoming a coach. He worked with Everton's academy for 17 years bef ...

took joint charge of first-team duties until the appointment of Ian Foster on 5 January 2024. In this period, they managed five fixtures, winning one, losing one, and drawing the rest. Following Foster's dismissal on 1 April 2024, the pair took charge once more until the end of the 2023–24 season, immediately ending a seven-game winless streak and relegating

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. In the 2024–25 season Nancekivell took on caretaker duties for the fifth time in his career, following the departure of

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

. This time he took over in joint roles with club captain Joe Edwards. The duo managed three games, consisting of two league draws, and tail-ended by an FA Cup Third Round victory away to

Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, England. The team competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Nicknamed "The Bees", the club was founded in 1889 and played home matc ...

on 11 January 2025. When new head coach Miron Muslic took over, it was confirmed that Nancekivell would remain at the club as part of Muslic's coaching team.

Personal life

Nancekivell grew up on a dairy farm in

Bradworthy Bradworthy is a village and civil parish in Devon, England, situated north-east of the border with Cornwall. This location has led to it being called the "last village in North Devon" – traveling further west leads to the Cornish village of K ...

, North Devon. He is part of the ''Horniwinks Racing Syndicate'' who own racehorse ''Adaay In Devon''. In January 2025 Kevin was awarded the Freedom of the City of Plymouth for his services to Plymouth Argyle and to the city of Plymouth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nancekivell, Kevin 1971 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool Sportspeople from Barnstaple English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Southern Football League players English Football League players Bideford A.F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English football managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff English Football League managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers