AINSWORTH HITS 400 GAMES AS BOSS
(Friday 7th February 2020)
Gareth Ainsworth hits another landmark in his Managerial career when he takes control of Wycombe Wanderers for the 400th time in a competitive First Team fixture as Bristol Rovers visit Adams Park on Saturday 8th February 2020.

Ainsworth has already become the longest serving Manager in Wanderers’ Football League history and in October 2019 became the current longest serving boss in the top four tiers of English football.

The former QPR player took over as Caretaker Manager of Wanderers in September 2012, following the departure of Gary Waddock – taking charge for the first time in Wycombe’s 3-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday 29th September 2012.


This is some of what a then 39 year-old Ainsworth said following his appointment as Caretaker boss:

“Firstly, I want to thank Gary (Waddock) for what he did for my career and for Wycombe Wanderers. It’s not nice to see someone lose their job, especially when they are your friend as well as your manager. When he found out, he said to me ‘it’s your turn Gaz, grab it with both hands’. I don’t want to let him or anyone else down, I’m going to give this my best shot and see what comes. I’m sure Gary will find another job, but he’ll be the first to recognise that we’ve got to get points on the board, as well as passion, spirit and drive back into this club. I want the lads to respond and the team that go out there on Saturday will give that.

I’m glad that I had that stint at QPR because it put me in that coaching frame of mind. I’ve got my ‘B’ Licence and I’m working on my ‘A’ Licence. I’ve put the work and graft in over the past 24 years in my career. I’ve got a lot of experience on the pitch, now I’ve got to transfer that to the boys here. I need to get my tactical head on and find out ways we can break down teams, defend against teams. It’s a real challenge and I’m glad I’ve got Dobbo (Richard Dobson) and Lee Harrison alongside me, two great guys who know a lot about football. It’s going to be total passion, total emotion and I know I’m going to be shattered after games. Hopefully it’ll all be worthwhile.

I don’t want to discount myself as a player but there’s a tough job to do as caretaker manager. That’s got to come first. If we can get that back, coupled with our talented squad, we will start picking results up. It starts Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it.”


Talking about the difficult decisions regarding the playing squad, he added:

“I can’t play 25 players. I’ll pick players on individual games – what I think will work in one game might not work in another. It will be horses for courses for me, that’s the way modern football is going. I’ll be doing that and picking the best team for that specific game. Hopefully we’ll get the results, if not there’s only one person it comes back to and that’s me. It’s a tough job but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited.”

Ainsworth also had this message to the fans:

“Please get behind us the best you can, as I know you can. Singing the players’ names really helps, being positive and showing everything that I would show. You all know me by now – I've got a lot of emotion and a lot of passion for Wycombe Wanderers. I’m so proud to have been captain, to be a player and now to be caretaker manager. Be proud to be a Wycombe fan because they need you at the moment. It’s easy to support a team when it’s going well, now we’re going through a tough time and this is when true supporters come to the fore. Everyone is going to be proud when we do turn it round and we’ll all be pleased to say we were part of that.”

Explaining what sort of Manager he hoped to be, he concluded:

“What I found out at QPR was that I don’t hold anything back. I was nearly in tears one Tuesday night when we beat Birmingham 1-0. That’s what I’ll show. I can’t hide emotions, if I’m angry you’ll see it, if I’m emotional you’ll see it, if I’m upset, if I’m tearful with joy you’ll see it – you’ll see everything. Hopefully people will respond to that and say ‘he’s not hiding anything, he’s passionate and that’s what Gareth Ainsworth is all about’. You will get everything I’ve got, everything, every little bit of passion that oozes out of me for football will be seen.”

And would he wear a suit or tracksuit?

“I’ll wear a tracksuit for now, I’m not sure the lads are ready for my suits yet! They’re quite cool, quite rock n roll, so we’ll save them for a later date. For now, it’ll be tracksuit. The long hair will stay though!”

Ainsworth complete record as Wanderers Manager prior to the visit of Bristol Rovers was:

Played 399
Won 161 (40.4%)
Drew 101 (25.3%)
Lost 137 (34.3%)


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