Gregory Stephen Abbott (born 14 December 1963) is an English football coach and former player who is the head of recruitment of Carlisle United.
He had spells with Halifax Town and non-league Guiseley before he returned to The Football League with former manager Terry Dolan at Hull City.
[3] He started his football career with his hometown club Coventry City, first signing schoolboy forms, before becoming an apprentice in June 1980.
He developed through the junior and reserve teams to sign a professional contract in January 1982 but at the end of the season he was given a free transfer without making a league appearance for the Division One side.
[4][6] During the summer of 1984, City signed winger John Hendrie, who had played with Abbott at Coventry, as well as defender Dave Evans.
[9][10] Abbott's games again were shared between his roles in midfield and at full back as he weighed in with six league goals, four from penalties.
[4][11] He added another ten the following season,[4] which included a penalty against top flight side Newcastle United in the League Cup.
Despite struggling during the first half of the season, City returned to Valley Parade and ended in tenth position thanks to seven games in the final nine fixtures under new manager Terry Dolan.
[12] On 16 September 1987, Abbott scored the first hat-trick of his career to give City a 3–1 victory against Plymouth Argyle and elevate them to the top of the division.
[4][13][14] Abbott returned to the side for the play-off semi-final matches against Middlesbrough, which City lost 3–2 on aggregate to prevent them from winning promotion to Division One.
[13] As a result of the defeat, both Stuart McCall and John Hendrie left the club and City could not maintain their form finishing in the bottom half for the first time in three years.
[8][16] He moved to non-league side Guiseley for three months, before he was given another chance in the Football League, by his former manager Terry Dolan, who was now in charge of Hull City.
He turned down an offer from Paul Jewell, another player Abbott knew from his time at Bradford City, to do some short-term coaching at Wigan Athletic.
[21] He won five of his ten games in charge to guide Carlisle to fourth position,[22][23] before Carlisle appointed Cheltenham Town manager John Ward as their new boss in October;[24] Abbott returned to his original assistant manager role with the club and signed a new two-year contract.
[37] He later spoke about how "tough" it was working for then-chairman Edin Rahic,[38] and how he felt the club had found itself again with new manager Gary Bowyer.