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Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional
football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
and former
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
and
physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
. He was most recently the manager and technical director at Tranmere Rovers. Adkins played as a
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
for Tranmere Rovers and
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
. He finished his playing career and began his managerial career at Welsh club Bangor City before joining Scunthorpe United's backroom staff. As the club's physio, Adkins was appointed as caretaker manager before receiving the job permanently. He led the club to the League One title in 2006–07. However, the club were relegated from the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
the following season but would return the following season after winning the 2009 play-off final. He also led Scunthorpe to the 2009 Football League Trophy final that season. After managing to keep Scunthorpe in the Championship, he joined League One club
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. He led the club to two successive promotions as runners-up, reaching the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
. He was sacked by the club in January 2013 and later moved to fellow Premier League club
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
. He was unable to keep Reading in the division and was sacked during the following season. He has subsequently had spells as manager at Sheffield United, Hull City and Charlton Athletic. In 2023, he joined Tranmere Rovers, initially as a technical director before becoming manager permanently in November 2023. In February 2025, he stepped down by mutual agreement.


Playing career

Adkins began his career at
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, but was released without playing a first team game. In 1983, he joined Tranmere Rovers and made 86 league appearances in three years. In 1986, he transferred to
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
, the club where he spent the majority of his career, playing 155 league games between 1986 and 1993. He suffered a double spinal fracture at age 23, which curtailed his career. Adkins joined Bangor City as player-manager in 1993, making 95 league appearances and guiding them to consecutive championships before leaving the club in 1996. Adkins subsequently retired from playing at age 31, having made 336 league appearances in a 13-year career. Following his retirement from playing, Adkins graduated from the
University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...
with a degree in physiotherapy and joined the physiotherapy department at Scunthorpe United.


Managerial career


Bangor City

Adkins began his managerial career in 1993 as the player-manager of Bangor City in the League of Wales where he won the championship in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, before departing in February 1996.


Scunthorpe United

Adkins 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 ...
by Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton in November 2006, following the departure of the previous manager,
Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...
. After his spell as caretaker, he was appointed as permanent manager on 7 December 2006. As Adkins had been promoted to the manager's seat from the role of club physiotherapist,Nigel Adkins works wonders as Scunny make the most of little money
– The Sport Blog;
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
newspaper
Scunthorpe supporters chanted, "Who needs Mourinho, we've got our physio!" on the terraces of Glanford Park in his honour. Adkins guided Scunthorpe to promotion from League One to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
with three matches to spare on 14 April 2007, and they went on to seal the divisional title to end an absence of more than 40 years from the league's second tier. Scunthorpe were relegated from the Championship the following season, but returned via the League One play-offs in May 2009, playing at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in consecutive months, having played
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...
in the final of the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
on 5 April. They struggled once again in the higher division, but this time avoided relegation by finishing 20th and being five points clear of
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
– the last relegated club.


Southampton

Adkins joined
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on 12 September 2010, after the Saints and Scunthorpe United agreed a compensation package. Adkins signed a three-year contract and was joined there by his former assistant at Scunthorpe, Andy Crosby. He gained his first victory in charge in his third game winning 1–0 at Sheffield Wednesday, with Lee Barnard scoring the only goal. The good start to his tenure continued and he guided Southampton into the play-off part of the table for the first time in League One on 2 November 2010 after a 4–0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge. After this result, the club joined the League One promotion rush, which was expected of them at the start of the campaign, and before the slow start. In the club's 125th anniversary match, Adkins saw his side beat Peterborough United 4–1. This was the sixth consecutive home win, the best home form for the football club since 1992. Adkins guided his team into the top two for the first time since being relegated, after a 4–0 win over Exeter City on New Year's Day 2011 and managed a victory against
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
opposition in
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
just one week later, taking his side into the fourth round of 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 ...
. Three days later he led his side to a 6–0 win away to Oldham Athletic and in the process recorded their fifth-straight victory. During Adkins' first transfer window at the club, he secured the contract of winger Adam Lallana for a new four-and-a-half-year contract. He signed winger
Dany N'Guessan Djombo Dany-Gael N'Guessan (born 11 August 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left winger or forward A graduate of the Auxerre Academy, he left France for Scotland when he signed with Rangers in July 2005. He ...
on loan from Leicester City, and signed Jonathan Forte on a three-and-a-half-year contract from Adkins' former club Scunthorpe United. Under the guidance of Adkins, ''the Saints'' achieved a club record of clean sheets in one season, beating the previous record of 19 set by
Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...
in the early 1980s. Adkins guided his side to promotion into the Championship after a 3–1 home win against
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
on 7 May 2011, earning his third League One promotion in his managerial career behind champions Brighton and Hove Albion. He won the League One Manager of the Month for April 2011 after winning seven of the eight games that month and putting Southampton on the brink of promotion. He then broke a 12-year hoodoo of not winning on the opening day of the league season by beating
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
at St Mary's Stadium 3–1 and send them straight into second in the Championship. In the process, he also broke a record by leading Southampton to seven consecutive league wins for the first time in their history. Two subsequent away wins – against
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
(1–0) and Ipswich Town (5–2) – kept Southampton top of the Championship. The club record of consecutive league victories extended to ten after a 1–0 win at home to Millwall. They suffered a minor blip in their next game, a 3–2 defeat at Leicester, but bounced back winning 3–1 in the second round of the League Cup at
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
. Adkins then guided ''the Saints'' to two successive home wins in a week; 3–2 over
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
and 4–1 against
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
. ''The Saints'' continued their remarkable start to the season and only lost 2 of their first 17 games. Despite a wobbly period around Christmas time, Adkins guided Southampton to a 12-game unbeaten run which kept them in the top two. ''Saints'' finally secured promotion to the Premier League on the final day of the season, beating Coventry City 4–0 at St Mary's in front of a club-record crowd. Adkins was the first Southampton manager to gain back-to-back promotions and kept Southampton in the top two all season. Adkins took charge of his first Premier League match as Southampton manager on 19 August 2012, losing 3–2 away to reigning champions
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
despite being 2–1 up with 18 minutes of the game remaining. His first top flight win came on 22 September 2012, beating Aston Villa 4–1 at St Mary's. In October 2012, Adkins disclosed that he recites the Dale Wimbrow poem, ''The Guy in The Glass'' to control stress. After much speculation over his future, on 18 January 2013 it was confirmed that Adkins had been sacked as Southampton manager and replaced by former Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino. As Adkins and Southampton were unable to agree the terms of his compensation package, Adkins commenced legal action for breach of contract in March 2013.


Reading

On 26 March 2013, Adkins was appointed manager at fellow Premier League club
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
in succession to Brian McDermott, who had been dismissed a fortnight earlier. His first game in charge ended in a 4–1 defeat away to
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 30 March 2013. Adkins could not stop Reading from being relegated, and they started the 2013–14 season in the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
. On 15 December 2014, Adkins was sacked following his side's 6–1 defeat to Birmingham which left them ten points behind a play-off place in the Championship.


Sheffield United

On 2 June 2015, Adkins was appointed as the manager at League One club Sheffield United. Sheffield United ended the season in 11th place, their lowest league position since 1983, eight points from the play-offs. Because of this, Adkins was sacked on 12 May 2016.


Hull City

On 7 December 2017, Adkins was appointed as the manager of
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
club Hull City, signing an 18-month contract, following the dismissal of Leonid Slutsky. He took over the Tigers while they sat in 20th place, three points adrift from the relegation drop and five from bottom. His first game in charge, a 3–2 victory over
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
, saw the club rise up to 18th place. At the end of the season, City finished in 18th place, eight points above the relegation places. In his first full season in charge, Adkins led the club to a 13th-place finish, winning 17 of their 46 games. During this league campaign, he won the divisional Manager of the Month award for December, in which his player Jarrod Bowen received the monthly Player of the Month award. On 8 June 2019, Adkins confirmed his decision not to renew his expiring contract, stating that his and the club's futures were "not aligned".


Charlton Athletic

On 18 March 2021, Adkins was appointed as manager of Charlton Athletic signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. On 21 October 2021, Adkins left Charlton Athletic following a poor start to the 2021–22 season which saw the club slip to its lowest ever league position.


Tranmere Rovers

On 7 May 2023, Adkins returned to Tranmere Rovers as technical director, mentor and advisor to manager Ian Dawes. On 10 September 2023 Adkins was appointed interim manager following Dawes' sacking. He was appointed permanent manager on 2 November 2023, signing a contract until the end of 2025–26 season. On 26 February 2025, Adkins left Tranmere by mutual agreement. This decision came after a ten-game winless run in the league which culminated in a home defeat to Accrington Stanley which left Tranmere two points above the relegation zone. Adkins won 23 of his 72 games in charge at Tranmere.


Managerial style

Adkins had been praised by former players for his man-management, and for his ability to instil belief in his players and generate confidence within his squads.


Personal life

Adkins and his wife, Angie, have two children.


Managerial statistics


Honours


Player-manager

Bangor City * League of Wales: 1993–94, 1994–95 * Welsh League Cup runner-up: 1993–94


Manager

Scunthorpe United *
Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
: 2006–07; play-offs:
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
*
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
runner-up: 2008–09 Southampton *
Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...
runner-up: 2011–12 *Football League One runner-up: 2010–11 Individual *League of Wales Manager of the Season: 1993–94, 1994–95 * Football League One Manager of the Month: February 2007, April 2011, December 2015 *Member of the Welsh Premier League Hall of Fame


References


External links


Nigel Adkins career profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adkins, Nigel 1965 births Living people Footballers from Birkenhead English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Men's association football player-managers English football managers Bangor City F.C. managers Scunthorpe United F.C. managers Southampton F.C. managers Reading F.C. managers Sheffield United F.C. managers Hull City A.F.C. managers Charlton Athletic F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers English Football League managers Premier League managers Tranmere Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Association football physiotherapists British physiotherapists Alumni of the University of Salford Association football technical directors Liverpool F.C. players