List of Manchester City F.C. managers

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This is a chronological list of Manchester City managers, comprising all those who have held the position of manager for the first team of Manchester City F.C. and the club's predecessors West Gorton (St. Marks) and Ardwick. In the Football League era the club has appointed 34 managers; including pre-league managers and temporary caretakers more than 40 men have held responsibility for team selection.

The longest serving manager was Wilf Wild, who was in charge from 1932 to 1946, for a total length of 14 years 9 months. However, as Wild's tenure covered the entire length of the Second World War, in which no competitive football was played, he is not the man with the most games served as manager. Les McDowall, who was in charge from 1950 to 1963, a period of 13 years, managed the club for the most competitive games, a total of 592 games - a full 240 games more than Wild, who recorded the second most. The most successful Manchester City manager in terms of major trophies won is Joe Mercer, who won four trophies in six years from 1965 to 1971. Roberto Mancini was City's most recent manager; he was sacked on 13 May 2013 after three-and-a-half years in charge.[1]

History

Early years 1880–1950s

Les McDowall who was City Manager 1950–63 and the longest serving manager in Manchester City's history, his tenure spanning 13 years.

In the era before league football, the position of manager involved many secretarial duties, such as arranging fixtures and the upkeep of the club's ground. Few accounts of the club's off-field affairs in the 1880s survive, and it is unclear who managed the club (then known as West Gorton (St. Marks)) between 1882 and 1884.[2] The club's earliest managers were also players; the first three known managers (Frederick Hopkinson, Edward Kitchen and Walter Chew) all played in West Gorton's first recorded match in 1880.[3] By 1889 the club had moved to Hyde Road and renamed itself Ardwick A.F.C. Under the management of Lawrence Furniss, the club joined the Football League in 1892 as founder members of the Second Division. Furniss became chairman a year later, and he and his successor as secretary-manager Joshua Parlby were responsible for Ardwick reforming as Manchester City F.C. in 1894.[4]

Under Sam Omerod the club achieved promotion to the First Division for the first time,[5] and five years later Tom Maley became the first Manchester City manager to win a major trophy, the 1904 FA Cup.[6] A financial scandal resulted in the Football Association suspending Maley and seventeen players in 1906,[7] leaving Harry Newbould with the task of assembling a makeshift side at short notice. In 1912 Ernest Mangnall joined City from local rivals Manchester United, but was unable to replicate the success he had enjoyed with the Reds. Upon Mangnall's departure in 1924 the roles of secretary and manager were separated, with David Ashworth appointed manager and Wilf Wild as secretary. This arrangement continued during Peter Hodge's time as manager, though the roles merged again when Wild became manager in 1932. Wild became the club's longest serving manager, winning the FA Cup and League Championship during his fourteen-year tenure. By the time Sam Cowan replaced Wild the roles of secretary and manager were separated permanently. Cowan lasted only one season, and was replaced by Jock Thomson. He gained promotion, but did not make a lasting impact at the top level.

1960 to 2000

Joe Mercer Way Pathway close to the Etihad Stadium. Dedicated to City's most successful ever manager

Les McDowall became manager in 1950, and managed the Blues for more league seasons than any other manager.[8] Known for his tactical awareness, McDowall's implementation of a system known as the Revie Plan resulted in two FA Cup final appearances, a defeat in 1955 and a victory in 1956.[8] McDowall resigned following relegation in 1963, and his assistant George Poyser became manager. Poyser proved unsuited to the manager's role, and was sacked in 1965. Joe Mercer was appointed, and the club's golden era began. Mercer became the club's most successful manager in terms of trophies won, winning the League Championship, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup in his six years at the helm.[9] Over time Mercer's assistant Malcolm Allison sought a progressively larger say in non-coaching matters, and in October 1971 he took sole control of the first team, with Mercer becoming "general manager".[10]

During Peter Swales' time as Manchester City chairman the tenure of managers was frequently brief, as between 1973 and 1994 eleven managers were appointed.[11] The first of these was Ron Saunders, after ill health had forced Johnny Hart to leave the post. Saunders was sacked after only six months, and club stalwart Tony Book took over. Book managed the club for five years, winning the League Cup in 1976. Malcolm Allison, who had rejoined the coaching staff in January 1979, made an ill-fated return to the manager's role later that year, a spell noted more for financial excess than on-pitch success.[12] A further six managers (John Bond, John Benson, Billy McNeill, Jimmy Frizzell, Mel Machin and Howard Kendall) were appointed in the 1980s, with none lasting more than three years amid a series of promotions and relegations. An upturn in results occurred during Peter Reid's management, the club achieving consecutive fifth-place finishes, but a deterioration in Reid's relationship with the board signalled the end of his spell at the club.[13] Brian Horton arrived from Oxford to sceptical newspaper headlines of "Brian Who?",[14] but developed a reputation for attractive football.[15] Swales was replaced as chairman by former City striker Francis Lee. Lee wanted to bring in his own man, and in the 1995 close season he replaced Horton with Alan Ball, whose sole full season resulted in relegation.

In the 1996–97 season, even the turnover rate of the Swales years was surpassed, with five managers (three permanent appointments and two caretakers) taking charge of first team affairs during the course of the season. The third of these was Steve Coppell, the shortest serving manager in the club's history,[16] who resigned on ill health grounds after 32 days as manager.[17] The final of the five, Frank Clark, saw out the season but did not last much longer, losing his job in February 1998 with the club on the brink of relegation to the third tier of English football. Joe Royle was unable to prevent relegation, but subsequently achieved successive promotions to restore top flight status, though relegation a year later resulted in his sacking.

2000 onwards, the Thaksin era and the Abu Dhabi era

Current City Manager Manuel Pellegrini
Roberto Mancini, who led the club to Premier League success for the first time in 44 years in 2011–12

Under Royle's replacement Kevin Keegan the club changed division for a fifth successive season,[18] setting club records for the number of points gained and goals scored in a season.[19] Keegan remained manager for the club's move to the City of Manchester Stadium and beyond, making him the longest serving manager since Tony Book.

On 6 July 2007, Sven-Göran Eriksson became the first Manchester City manager from outside the British Isles, replacing the sacked Stuart Pearce, who had served for two years following an initial spell as caretaker.[20] After just one season with the club, Eriksson was replaced by Mark Hughes in June 2008. On 19 December 2009, Mark Hughes was sacked and replaced by Italian Roberto Mancini.

Mancini subsequently became one of the most successful managers of the club in the modern era, and the first to win major domestic trophies since the 1970s. However, after 3 and a half seasons in charge, Mancini was sacked on 13 May 2013 following defeat in the FA Cup Final versus Wigan Athletic.[1]

On 14 June 2013, Manuel Pellegrini was confirmed as the new manager of the club after signing a 3-year contract and is the third manager, after Roberto Mancini and Brian Kidd, to take charge of City under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group.[21]

Managers

As of 31 December 2015. Statistics include competitive matches only, pre-Football League and wartime matches excluded. Caretakers are shown in italics.

Name Nickname Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win % Honours and/or notes
Hopkinson FrederickFrederick Hopkinson  England 1880 1882 – – – – – – – –
Unknown 1882 1884 – – – – – – – –
Kitchen EdwardEdward Kitchen  England 1884 1887 – – – – – – – –
Chew WalterWalter Chew  England 1887 1889 – – – – – – – –
Lawrence Furniss  England August 1889 May 1893 26 10 4 12 59 46 38.46 –
Joshua Parlby  England August 1893 May 1895 59 22 5 32 129 146 37.29 –
Sam Omerod "The Wizard of Longsight"  England August 1895 July 1902 240 111 50 79 433 354 46.25 –
Tom Maley  Scotland July 1902 July 1906 150 89 22 39 322 179 59.33 First non-English manager
FA Cup 1904
Harry Newbould  England July 1906 July 1912 245 93 61 91 390 376 37.96 –
Committee July 1912 September 1912 2 2 0 0 2 0 100.00 –
Ernest Mangnall  England 9 September 1912 June 1924 350 151 117 82 500 457 43.14 –
David Ashworth  England July 1924 14 November 1925 59 20 13 26 113 121 33.90 –
Albert Alexander / Committee  England 16 November 1925 26 April 1926 31 13 8 10 80 56 41.94 –
Peter Hodge  Scotland 26 April 1926 12 March 1932 261 122 59 80 579 447 46.74 -
Wilf Wild  England 14 March 1932 1 December 1946 352 158 71 123 703 562 44.89 FA Cup 1934, First Division champions 1936–37
Sam Cowan  England 2 December 1946 30 June 1947 30 20 6 4 53 27 66.67 -
Wilf Wild  England August 1947 November 1947 16 5 5 6 20 18 31.25 –
Jock Thomson  Scotland November 1947 February 1950 115 35 35 45 122 156 30.43 –
Les McDowall  Scotland June 1950 May 1963 592 220 127 245 1,049 1,134 37.16 FA Cup 1956
George Poyser  England 12 July 1963 April 1965 89 38 17 34 159 137 42.70 –
Committee April 1965 May 1965 5 1 3 1 4 5 20.00 –
Joe Mercer  England 13 July 1965 7 October 1971 340 149 94 97 518 358 43.82 First Division champions 1967–68, FA Cup 1969, League Cup 1970, Cup Winners' Cup 1970
Malcolm Allison "Big Mal"  England 7 October 1971 30 March 1973 78 32 21 25 119 106 41.03 –
Johnny Hart  England 30 March 1973 22 October 1973 22 11 5 6 26 22 50.00 –
Tony Book "Skip"  England 23 October 1973 22 November 1973 7 2 3 2 7 3 28.57 –
Ron Saunders  England 22 November 1973 12 April 1974 29 10 9 10 38 33 34.48 –
Tony Book "Skip"  England 12 April 1974 July 1979 269 114 75 80 405 309 42.38 League Cup 1976
Malcolm Allison "Big Mal"  England 16 July 1979 8 October 1980 60 15 20 25 63 95 25.00 –
Tony Book "Skip"  England 9 October 1980 16 October 1980 1 0 0 1 1 3 0.00 –
John Bond "007"  England 17 October 1980 3 February 1983 123 51 32 40 171 152 41.46 –
John Benson  Scotland 3 February 1983 7 June 1983 17 3 2 12 13 32 17.65
Billy McNeill "Cesar"  Scotland 30 June 1983 20 September 1986 156 63 42 51 223 183 40.38 –
Jimmy Frizzell  Scotland 21 September 1986 May 1987 42 10 12 20 40 61 23.81 –
Mel Machin "The Badger"  England May 1987 29 November 1989 130 59 27 44 225 179 45.38 –
Tony Book "Skip"  England 29 November 1989 5 December 1989 3 0 0 3 4 9 0.00 –
Howard Kendall  England 6 December 1989 5 November 1990 38 13 18 7 46 37 34.21 –
Peter Reid  England 11 November 1990 26 August 1993 136 59 31 46 199 166 43.38 –
Tony Book "Skip"  England 27 August 1993 27 August 1993 1 0 1 0 1 1 0.00 –
Brian Horton  England 28 August 1993 16 May 1995 96 29 33 34 118 130 30.21 –
Alan Ball "Bouncy"  England 30 June 1995 26 August 1996 49 13 14 22 49 70 26.53 –
Asa Hartford  Scotland 26 August 1996 7 October 1996 8 3 0 5 8 13 37.50 –
Steve Coppell  England 7 October 1996 8 November 1996 6 2 1 3 7 10 33.33 –
Phil Neal "Zico"  England 9 November 1996 28 December 1996 10 2 1 7 11 19 20.00 –
Frank Clark  England 29 December 1996 17 February 1998 59 20 17 22 73 60 33.90 –
Joe Royle "Big Joe"  England 18 February 1998 21 May 2001 171 74 46 51 261 192 43.27 –
Kevin Keegan "King Kev"  England 24 May 2001 11 March 2005 176 77 39 60 299 223 43.75 –
Stuart Pearce "Psycho"  England 21 March 2005 14 May 2007[22] 96 34 19 43 103 111 35.42 –
Sven-Göran Eriksson "Svennis"  Sweden 6 July 2007[23] 2 June 2008[24] 45 19 11 15 51 58 42.22 First non-British manager
Mark Hughes "Sparky"  Wales 4 June 2008[25] 19 December 2009[26] 77 36 15 26 129 101 46.75 –
Roberto Mancini "Bobby Manc"  Italy 19 December 2009[26] 13 May 2013 191 113 38 40 360 173 59.16 FA Cup 2011, Premier League champions 2011–12, Community Shield 2012
Brian Kidd "Kiddo"  England 13 May 2013 14 June 2013 2 1 0 1 4 3 50.00 –
Manuel Pellegrini "The Engineer"  Chile 14 June 2013 Present 135 86 18 31 320 143 63.70 First non-European manager
League Cup 2014, Premier League champions 2013–14

Records

Nationalities

As of May 2014.

Country Managers Trophies*
England England 37 10
Scotland Scotland 8 2
Italy Italy 1 3
Chile Chile 1 2
Sweden Sweden 1 0
Wales Wales 1 0

*Trophies include all major honours and Community shields. Lower league titles and local cups not included.

Most games managed

As of May 2013.

Manager Games
Scotland Les McDowall 592
England Wilf Wild 352
England Ernest Mangnall 350
England Joe Mercer 340
England Tony Book 269
Scotland Peter Hodge 261
England Harry Newbould 245
England Sam Omerod 240
Italy Roberto Mancini 191
England Kevin Keegan 176

References

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p233
  3. ↑ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p20
  4. ↑ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p234
  5. ↑ Manchester City - The Complete Record, p235–6
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p136
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p93
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Manchester City – The Complete Record, p246
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p7
  10. ↑ Penney, p144
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Everything Under the Blue Moon, p172
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Blue Moon Rising, p90
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p132
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p265
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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