Gareth Ainsworth was born on 10 May 1973 and is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers.
57 Facts About Gareth Ainsworth
2.
Gareth Ainsworth signed for Cambridge United, who in turn loaned him back to Northwich, and returned to Preston in 1993, establishing himself in the first team during his second spell.
3.
Gareth Ainsworth was dogged by injuries at the club, and following loan spells with Preston and Walsall, he moved to Cardiff City in March 2003.
4.
Gareth Ainsworth signed with Queens Park Rangers in June 2003, where he spent seven years.
5.
Gareth Ainsworth joined Wycombe Wanderers in February 2010, following a short loan period.
6.
Gareth Ainsworth was appointed manager in November 2012, after a short period as caretaker-manager.
7.
Gareth Ainsworth retired from regular playing appearances to concentrate on management in April 2013, but remained registered as a player.
8.
Gareth Ainsworth left in February 2023 to become the manager of QPR.
9.
Gareth Ainsworth's mother worked as a professional singer during the 1960s while his father worked in several different jobs including a bookmakers, a driving instructor and a factory clerk.
10.
Gareth Ainsworth's parents were avid music fans and his mother taught Ainsworth to sing as a child.
11.
Gareth Ainsworth is a supporter of Blackburn Rovers and became a season ticket holder at the age of six.
12.
Gareth Ainsworth started his career as a trainee with Second Division club Blackburn Rovers, but despite forming a useful partnership with Peter Thorne he was not offered professional terms at the end of his two-year training period.
13.
Gareth Ainsworth had been hopeful of earning a professional contract but was informed of his release by manager Don Mackay on his 18th birthday.
14.
Gareth Ainsworth later described his release from his hometown club as "devastating" and admitted walking into the car park at the ground and crying.
15.
Gareth Ainsworth's form attracted the attention of Third Division club Preston North End and, in January 1992, they offered him a second chance at the professional game.
16.
Gareth Ainsworth later said that "It was the club where I played my best football, probably of my whole career".
17.
Gareth Ainsworth was told that he was to be released in summer 2002, and was allowed to join former club Preston North End on loan in April 2002.
18.
Gareth Ainsworth played five games for Preston, scoring one goal against Coventry City.
19.
Gareth Ainsworth returned to Wimbledon to find that he was to be offered a new contract, after the club announced it was considering a potentially lucrative move to Milton Keynes.
20.
Gareth Ainsworth scored for the "Saddlers" against Nottingham Forest, but his loan deal was not extended.
21.
Gareth Ainsworth scored twice in nine games upon his return to Wimbledon, before March 2003, when he moved to Second Division club Cardiff City on a short-term deal for a "small fee".
22.
The "Bluebirds" won promotion to the First Division as play-off winners, though Gareth Ainsworth played no part in the victory over Queens Park Rangers in the final at the Millennium Stadium.
23.
Gareth Ainsworth's stay with the club was brief, as manager Lennie Lawrence told him that he could not guarantee him a first team spot.
24.
Gareth Ainsworth signed for Second Division club Queens Park Rangers in July 2003.
25.
In May 2008, Gareth Ainsworth accepted a player coach role under new QPR boss Iain Dowie.
26.
Dowie was sacked in October 2008, and Gareth Ainsworth was appointed as caretaker-manager.
27.
On taking up the reins, Gareth Ainsworth announced that "QPR is very strong with the result of what happened and will stay strong, nothing is going to break us".
28.
Sousa's reign did not last long however, and on 9 April 2009, Gareth Ainsworth again took the role of caretaker-manager.
29.
Gareth Ainsworth was considered for the vacant management position at former club Lincoln City in September 2009.
30.
On 20 November 2009 Gareth Ainsworth joined League One club Wycombe Wanderers on a month-long loan.
31.
Gareth Ainsworth went on to sign an eighteen-month contract with Wycombe in February 2010.
32.
Later that month Gareth Ainsworth signed a new one-year contract with the club.
33.
Gareth Ainsworth retired from professional football on 27 April 2013, after playing his final game against his former club, Port Vale at Adams Park, although he agreed to sign a two-year contract to remain as Wycombe manager.
34.
Gareth Ainsworth later combined managerial duties at Wycombe with playing for Woodley United.
35.
Gareth Ainsworth signed right-back Nick Arnold and midfielder Billy Knott on loan.
36.
Gareth Ainsworth won the League Two Manager of the Month award for March 2015 after Wycombe picked up fourteen points in six tough unbeaten games.
37.
Gareth Ainsworth signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract in January 2015 and was named as that season's LMA Manager of the Year for League Two.
38.
Gareth Ainsworth won the League Two Manager of the Month award for a second time having guided the team from 21st to sixth-place with four successive victories and only one goal conceded in November 2016.
39.
Gareth Ainsworth was named as the EFL's manager of the week on 3 January 2017, after his side recorded two consecutive victories to begin the year fifth in the table.
40.
Gareth Ainsworth won League Two's Manager of the Month award for January 2018 after having led his side to four wins in four games.
41.
In June 2018, Gareth Ainsworth extended his contract by another three years to remain as Wycombe boss.
42.
Gareth Ainsworth was reported to be on the manager shortlist at former club Queens Park Rangers in April 2019.
43.
Gareth Ainsworth was given permission to speak with divisional rivals Sunderland and was linked with a move to Millwall in October 2019, but remained at Wycombe, stating that it would take "something special" for him to leave.
44.
Gareth Ainsworth was named as the League One Manager of the Month for November 2019 after his team picked up ten points from four games without conceding a goal.
45.
Gareth Ainsworth signed another new contract in February 2020, which was described simply as "long-term".
46.
The play-offs were behind closed doors due to the pandemic and Gareth Ainsworth credited Wycombe's success to the noise and support created by the club's substitutes, support staff and directors.
47.
Gareth Ainsworth was linked with the vacant management position at former club Preston North End.
48.
Gareth Ainsworth won the League One Manager of the Month award for April 2022 after his team picked up 17 points and scored 13 goals from seven games.
49.
Gareth Ainsworth admitted that his side were underdogs for the final against Sunderland in what would be Adebayo Akinfenwa last game as a professional.
50.
On 21 February 2023, Gareth Ainsworth was appointed as Queens Park Rangers head coach on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
51.
Gareth Ainsworth was able to play on the right wing or as an attacking midfielder, and had good crossing ability; he was known as a pacey player in his 20s and early 30s.
52.
Gareth Ainsworth was very strong and powerful as well as really quick.
53.
Gareth Ainsworth is a very attack-minded manager, and likes his teams to play aggressively and with a high pressing style.
54.
Gareth Ainsworth has specialised in building teams on a tight budget, recruiting older players overlooked by rival managers who had seen them as "has-beens".
55.
Gareth Ainsworth later joined the band Dog Chewed the Handle, named after a Terrorvision song, after answering an advert in Loot.
56.
Gareth Ainsworth is considered a cult hero at Preston, Wimbledon, QPR, Port Vale, Lincoln City, and Wycombe Wanderers.
57.
Gareth Ainsworth graduated from the University of Liverpool with a Diploma in Professional Studies in Football Management in December 2019.