Geoff Horsfield - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

Joining Port Vale as player-assistant manager in July 2009; twelve months later he was offered a contract at the club as a full-time assistant manager. Manager Micky Adams insisted that Horsfield would have a heavier workload over the 2010–11 season, and would have to "formulate a catalogue of players" and "get to know all the leagues at all levels". However Adams also stated that Horsfield may be registered as a player and return to the field in an emergency situation. This meant many hours of scouting.

In December 2010, he was made joint caretaker manager at Vale, along with Mark Grew, following the departure of Micky Adams. Vale were hammered 5–0 by Rotherham United in his first game in charge, but rallied to beat Burton Albion 2–1, before Jim Gannon was appointed manager. Gannon retained Horsfield as his assistant. However the new manager was keen to bring in his own staff, and so in February 2011 Stockport County approached Horsfield in a bid to sign him as a coach and also to bring him out of retirement as a player. On 25 February, during a pre-match coach trip to Aldershot, Gannon left the team bus after an apparent bust-up with Horsfield. It was later reported in the national media that Horsfield had requested a day off to deal with a family matter, Gannon then granted him permission but subsequently wrote a letter to the board complaining of his conduct. An unnamed director then handed the letter to Horsfield, who confronted Gannon over the issue, brandishing the letter as proof when Gannon denied its existence. The following week Horsfield was informed that he would face a disciplinary hearing over the matter. After Horsfield was told to stay away from the club for two weeks he was invited back to his assistant role as before, with no disciplinary action taken against either party. Gannon was sacked less than four weeks after the bust-up on the bus, and Grew was appointed as caretaker-manager, with Horsfield as his assistant.

"I have got a couple of business propositions I can go into at the moment and at this stage of my life I feel it is time for a change. I have absolutely loved my time here at Port Vale. I have got on with everybody apart from the previous manager, which is well-documented, but that happens in football and I have just got to look at the future now and look at my family."

In July 2011, Horsfield stepped down as assistant manager to concentrate on his coaching qualifications, remaining at Port Vale as a coach. Later in the month he scored in a friendly against Stone Dominoes, and was forced to dismiss speculation that he would make a return to the playing side of the game. In December 2011, loan striker Guy Madjo celebrated his first goal for the club by running over to Horsfield on the touchline; he later said that this was "to say thank you for all the finishing (practice) that we have been doing. He has shown me a lot of things that I haven't done in the past. In seven years, I have been so many places, to so many clubs and I haven't done that with anyone else, so I just feel it was a good dedication for him." Horsfield retired completely from football in May 2012 to pursue business interests.