Gary Caldwell joined Exeter City in October 2022, taking charge of his first game on the 25th of October at Derby County. 

Gary was born in Sirling Scotland on the 12 April 1982. A Scottish former professional footballer and coach. He played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Athletic and won 55 international caps for Scotland. 

After retiring as a player in February 2015, and a career of over 300 games, Gary joined the coaching staff at the Wigan Athletic academy. He was appointed the new manager of Wigan Athletic on 7 April 2015,  with the club 23rd in the Championship. He was unable to halt the club's relegation to League One but he remained in charge. The following season Gary guided Wigan to the League One title and promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt.^[Along with club success Caldwell was also recognised with the manager of the month award for February and the LMA League One Manager of the Year award. In October 2016, after 18 months in charge, he was dismissed by Wigan.

In 2017, he was appointed manager of League One club Chesterfield on a one-year rolling contract, but was unable to prevent the club being relegated, and was sacked on 16 September after a bad start to the  season.

Gary was appointed manager of Partick Thistle in October 2018 and avoided relegation at the end of the 2018–19 season, but he was sacked in September 2019 as the club sat second-bottom of the table.

In 2021 Caldwell was named interim manager of Newcastle United  U23s team.

Gary re-joined Hibernian as their assistant manager in December 2021, They were sacked in April 2022, following a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hearts. 

On 24 October 2022, it was announced that Caldwell was the new first team manager at Exeter City FC.


An Article Reproduced From the FOOTBALL LEAGUE PAPER

Sunday, April 14, 2024.

By John Lyons (with permission) 

BIG INTERVIEW. GARY CALDWELL

'EXETER IS AN AMAZING CLUB TO WORK FOR" 

IF EXETER City had sacked Gary Caldwell in December, no-one would have batted an eyelid. Any losing run these days seems to lead to a manager departing the hot-seat quicker than Alan Sugar can say 'You're fired'.

Given that Caldwell endured a 13-game winless run in League One with the Grecians from mid September through to Christmas, you would have thought he was a surefire goner. However, Exeter's board and the board of the Exeter City Supporters' Trust which owns the club came out and publicly backed their man.

"In keeping with our ethos, when we appointed Gary Caldwell last year we took a view that this would be a long-term appointment with the aim of helping us grow and develop all aspects of the football club This view has not changed." a statement issued by both boards read. An EFL club taking a long- term view? Wow, that doesn't happen often these days. And yet, as we approach the final furlongs of a gruelling campaign, that backing has proved benefical. Tuesday night's late come back to earn a 2-2 draw at Leyton Orient saw the Grecians extend their unbeaten league run to seven games. They're flying high in the form table and a comfortable mid table. It's little wonder, therefore, that former Celtic and Scotland defender Caldwell is enjoying life with the Devon club. He could, after all, have easily been out of a job. "I love it, it's an amazing football club to work for," he told The FLP after the midweek game in the capital. "I'd say it's the one club that's supported me in a time of need, just before Christmas. "That understanding and alignment I have with the board and the board have with me on what we're doing on a football, level is really important. I'm really grateful but I think there's real honesty and clarity from what I say to the board and what the board see. They understand what goes on on a daily basis and how hard not just me but all the staff work. "They understand how much we need to improve the staff. We've brought in a new analyst recently and we're bringing in a new S&C (strength and conditioning) coach in the summer so we are constantly trying to improve. "That is testament to the board and the club as to how hard they're working behind the scenes to give us the resources we need to be success ful. We're trying to improve the budget, albeit within a league that has massive clubs, ex-Premier League clubs. "We're trying to give our supporters a team they can be proud of and that can be suc cessful at this level." In many ways, it's been a strange season for the Grecians They were top after eight games before that slump in form saw them slide to just above the relegation places. Now, with the help of some January signings, they're hitting their straps again. So how does ex-Wigan defender and manager Caldwell, who turned 42 on Friday, sum up their progress. "I'm delighted, it's been a big challenge from where we were in the summer," he said. "We lost two academy graduates in Archie Collins, who's just won a trophy at Peterborough, and Josh Key (Swansea), who has gone up a level to the Championship and been fantastic. "We also sold Sam Nombe, right, (to Rotherham) for a brilliant amount of money (£1m-plus) that helps our club, which is owned by the fans. "When we did that we were always going to face a challenging season. We were putting to gether a lot of new players who would need time to bed in and understand each other. It was a small squad in the first half of the season. "We've managed to invest a little bit and create a more competitive squad in the second half of the season. The progress the club has made in every department has been fantastic and something we should be really proud of."  

One of the new arrivals who has boosted the Grecians in the second half of the campaign is experienced midfielder Ryan Woods. The 30-year-old play maker joined on loan from Hull, having spent the first half  of the season at fellow third tier side Bristol Rovers. "A lot of the players signed in January have come and impacted the team but al impacted the squad," explain Caldwell. "What we've had i more competitive environment on the training. ground. It's not been easy to pick teams because there's been a lot of players training daily it creates competition. "Woodsy has been massive since he came to the club. He was somebody I tried to sign in the summer, but we stayed in touch and thankfully we man- aged to do it on the last day of the window. "Since he's got his fitness levels to where he is now, he's shown he really is a quality players
"Hopefully he will be here next season but there's still a lot of things to fall into place for that to happen. "He's loving his football. We've given him a platform and have got a style of play that suits how he plays. We've been delighted with him."

Against the O's, Woods formed a string-pulling midfield duo with another player with higher level experience Tom Carroll. The 31 year-old former Tottenham and Swansea left-footer has got oodles of class and has displayed what he can do at St James Park this term. "Tom had a season last year where he didn't play so our staff, physios, the S&C team nave done amazing with Tom to build him up," said Caldwell, who has also managed Chesterfield and Partick Thistle. "When he gets in those right areas of the pitch and passes forward, he is a great player for us. His final pass is fantastic. "We need good characters, experienced players who can help our younger lads." Having Impressed of late, Caldwell doesn't want his side to ease off now. "It's clear the club is trying to improve in every single department whether that be staff, facilities or the playing budget," he added. "We're constantly growing at a level where we're really punching above our weight and we want to keep progressing "We want to finish strong, try to win every game and then there'll be an analysis, a review. "We'll review every decision and every department of the club so that we can learn lessons from this year and be better next year."

Gary managed is 100th game for Exeter on the 17th October 2024, away at Shrewsbury.