King joined the club in August 2000 as Colin Todd's assistant manager, after the sacking of Jimmy Quinn following the clusb relegation from the old Division 1. He took over as manager in November 2000 when Todd quit. King was then sacked ten days before the new season started back in August 2001 and Roy Evans was appointed as manager, but like Todd the year before he also quit due to lack of money, and in December 2001 King was reappointed as manager for his second spell at the club, and has been in charge ever since.
King has had to put up with calls for him to be sacked again back in 2002, and again last season, and in most games this season due to a poor run of results, and some of his comments to the media over the past few seasons which has upset some fans.
King's best season at the County Ground was the 2003/4 season which saw the club finish 5th, and lose to Brighton in the play off semi finals.