List of Blackpool F.C. managers

Including repeat appointments, there have been 42 full-time managers of Blackpool F.C., the first being Bill Norman between 1918 and 1923. The longest-serving manager was Joe Smith, who occupied the role for 23 years; Michael Appleton, meanwhile, lasted 65 days in the role in his first stint at the club.[1] Blackpool have, on average, appointed a new manager just under every three years. As of September 2024, the club have had thirteen full-time managers in twelve years.

There have been five repeat appointments: Bob Stokoe, Allan Brown, Simon Grayson, Michael Appleton and Neil Critchley.

In 2014, Jose Riga became the club's first foreign manager.

In 2020, Neil Critchley became the first appointment to be known as a head coach.

## List of managers

[edit]

The statistics in the table below account for Football League and Premier League games only. Play-off games are excluded.[2]

As of 3 May 2025
Name  | From  | To  | Games  | Won  | Drawn  | Lost  | Win%  | Honours won

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No manager | 1896 | 1903 | 196 | 63 | 38 | 95 | 32.14 |
Tom Barcroft1 (secretary-manager) | 1903 | 1909 | 220 | 61 | 55 | 104 | 27.73 |
Jack Cox1 (player-manager) | 1909 | 1911 | 76 | 30 | 18 | 28 | 39.47 |
No manager | 1911 | 1915 | 152 | 48 | 35 | 69 | 31.58 |
Bill Norman2 | c. 1 August 1918 | c. 31 May 1923 | 168 | 74 | 36 | 58 | 44.05 |
No manager | c. 31 May 1923 | 5 October 1923 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 12.50 |
Major Frank Buckley | 6 October 1923 | c. 31 May 1927 | 160 | 66 | 36 | 58 | 41.25 |
Sydney Beaumont | c. 1 August 1927 | c. 31 May 1928 | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 30.95 |
Harry Evans (honorary manager) | c. 1 August 1928 | c. 31 May 1933 | 210 | 83 | 35 | 92 | 39.52 | Division Two championship (1929–30)
Sandy MacFarlane | 1 July 1933 | 31 July 1935 | 84 | 36 | 24 | 24 | 42.86 |
Joe Smith | c. 1 August 1935 | 30 April 1958 | 672 | 288 | 155 | 229 | 42.86 | Promotion to Division One (1936–37), FA Cup (1953)
Ron Suart1 | 1 May 1958 | 1 February 1967 | 363 | 116 | 91 | 156 | 31.96 |
Stan Mortensen1 | 1 February 1967 | April 1969 | 99 | 40 | 27 | 32 | 40.40 |
Harry Johnston (caretaker manager) | April 1969 | April 1969 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ??.?? |
Les Shannon | 1 May 1969 | 26 October 1970 | 56 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 39.29 | Promotion to Division One (1969–70)
Jimmy Meadows (caretaker manager) | 26 October 1970 | 20 December 1970 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12.50 |
Bob Stokoe | 20 December 1970 | 23 November 1972 | 80 | 28 | 24 | 28 | 35.00 | 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup
No manager | 23 November 1972 | 1 January 1973 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 57.14 |
Harry Potts | 1 January 1973 | 5 May 1976 | 143 | 52 | 47 | 44 | 36.36 |
Allan Brown1 | 5 May 1976 | 6 February 1978 | 69 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 40.58 |
Bobby Smith (caretaker manager)[3] | 6 February 1978 | 7 March 1978 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 00.00 |
Jimmy Meadows (caretaker manager) | 7 March 1978 | 20 May 1978 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 07.69 |
Bob Stokoe (second time) | 20 May 1978 | 17 August 1979 | 46 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 39.13 |
Stan Ternent | 19 September 1979 | 1 February 1980 | 29 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 31.03 |
Freddie Scott (caretaker manager) | February 1980 | February 1980 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ??.?? |
Alan Ball1 | February 1980 | 28 February 1981 | 51 | 13 | 14 | 24 | 25.49 |
Allan Brown1 (second time) | 1 March 1981 | 31 May 1982 | 58 | 17 | 17 | 24 | 29.31 |
Sam Ellis | 1 June 1982 | 28 March 1989 | 311 | 117 | 89 | 105 | 37.62 | Promotion to Division Three (1984–85)
Jimmy Mullen (caretaker manager) | 28 March 1989 | 20 May 1989 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 45.45 |
Jimmy Mullen | 20 May 1989 | 30 April 1990 | 45 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 22.22 |
Tom White1 (caretaker manager) | 30 April 1990 | 11 June 1990 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 00.00 |
Graham Carr | 11 June 1990 | 30 November 1990 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 31.25 |
Billy Ayre | 30 November 1990 | 10 June 1994 | 164 | 68 | 37 | 59 | 41.46 | Promotion to (new) Division Two (1991–92)
Sam Allardyce | 19 July 1994 | 29 May 1996 | 92 | 41 | 23 | 28 | 44.57 |
Gary Megson | 5 July 1996 | 1 July 1997 | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 39.13 |
Nigel Worthington1 | 8 July 1997 | 23 December 1999 | 113 | 34 | 32 | 47 | 30.09
Mike Hennigan &
Mike Davies1 (caretaker managers) | 23 December 1999 | 7 January 2000 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 00.00 |
Steve McMahon | 7 January 2000 | 6 June 2004 | 206 | 72 | 53 | 81 | 34.95 | Promotion to Division Two (2000–01), League Trophy (2002 and 2004)
Colin Hendry1 | 7 June 2004 | 10 November 2005 | 62 | 18 | 19 | 25 | 29.03 |
Simon Grayson1 (caretaker manager) | 10 November 2005 | 5 June 2006 | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 30.00 |
Simon Grayson1 | 5 August 2006 | 23 December 2008 | 116 | 43 | 37 | 36 | 37.06 | Promotion to The Championship (2006–07)
Tony Parkes &
Steve Thompson (caretaker managers) | 24 December 2008 | 18 May 2009 | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 27.27 |
Ian Holloway | 21 May 2009 | 3 November 2012 | 143 | 54 | 40 | 49 | 37.76 | Promotion to the Premier League (2009–10)
Steve Thompson (caretaker manager) | 3 November 2012 | 7 November 2012 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50 |
Michael Appleton | 7 November 2012 | 11 January 2013 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 18.18 |
Steve Thompson (caretaker manager) | 11 January 2013 | 18 February 2013 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 33.33 |
Paul Ince | 18 February 2013 | 21 January 2014 | 40 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 30 |
Barry Ferguson1 (caretaker manager) | 21 January 2014 | 3 May 2014 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15 |
José Riga | 11 June 2014 | 27 October 2014 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 7.14 |
Lee Clark | 30 October 2014 | 9 May 2015 | 32 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 9.38 |
Neil McDonald | 2 June 2015 | 18 May 2016 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 28.57 |
Gary Bowyer | 1 June 2016 | 6 August 2018 | 115 | 42 | 40 | 33 | 36.52 | Promotion to League One (2016–17)
Terry McPhillips | 6 August 2018 | 5 July 2019 | 56 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 37.50 |
Simon Grayson1 | 6 July 2019 | 12 February 2020 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 34.48 |
David Dunn (caretaker manager) | 12 February 2020 | 2 March 2020 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50 |
Neil Critchley3 | 2 March 2020 | 2 June 2022 | 94 | 39 | 24 | 31 | 41.49 | Promotion to The Championship (2020–21)
Michael Appleton | 17 June 2022 | 18 January 2023 | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 22.22 |
Mick McCarthy | 19 January 2023 | 8 April 2023 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14.29 |
Stephen Dobbie (interim) | 8 April 2023 | 23 May 2023 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 50 |
Neil Critchley | 23 May 2023 | 21 August 2024 | 48 | 21 | 10 | 17 | 43.75 |
Richard Keogh (interim)  | 21 August 2024 | 3 September 2024 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Steve Bruce | 3 September 2024 | present | 48 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 37.50 |

## Notes

[edit]

^1 – Also played for Blackpool
^2 – Norman was the club's first full-time manager
^3 – Position known as head coach henceforth

## References

[edit]

Specific

1. ^ "Michael Appleton: Blackburn Rovers announce new manager" Archived 23 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine – BBC Sport, 11 January 2013
2. ^ "Blackpool Managers History". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
3. ^ ""Great Memories", Bury F.C.'s official website". Archived from the original on 7 August 2011.

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Blackpool Football Club

* Players
* Managers
* Seasons
* Records
* Honours
* Notable matches

History|

* 1887 to 1962
* 1962 to present

Home stadium|

* Raikes Hall
* Athletic Grounds
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Rivalries|

* West Lancashire derby
* Fylde Coast derby

Related articles|

* League record by opponent
* Blackpool Ladies

* Category

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Blackpool F.C. – managers

* Barcroft (1903–1909)
* Cox (1909–1911)
* Norman (1918–1923)
* Buckley (1923–1927)
* Beaumont (1927–1928)
* Evans (1928–1933)
* MacFarlane (1933–1935)
* Joe Smith (1935–1958)
* Suart (1958–1967)
* Mortensen (1967–1969)
* Johnstonc (1969)
* Shannon (1969–1970)
* Meadowsc (1970)
* Stokoe (1970–1972)
* Potts (1972–1976)
* Brown (1976–1978)
* Bobby Smithc (1978)
* Meadowsc (1978)
* Stokoe (1978–1979)
* Ternent (1979–1980)
* Scottc (1980)
* Ball (1980–1981)
* Brown (1981–1982)
* Ellis (1982–1989)
* Mullenc (1989)
* Mullen (1989–1990)
* Whitec (1990)
* Carr (1990)
* Ayre (1990–1994)
* Allardyce (1994–1996)
* Megson (1996–1997)
* Worthington (1997–1999)
* Hennigan and Daviesc (1999–2000)
* McMahon (2000–2004)
* Hendry (2004–2005)
* Graysonc (2005–2006)
* Grayson (2006–2008)
* Parkes and Thompsonc (2008–2009)
* Holloway (2009–2012)
* Thompsonc (2012)
* Appleton (2012–2013)
* Thompsonc (2013)
* Ince (2013–2014)
* Fergusonc (2014)
* Riga (2014)
* Clark (2014–2015)
* McDonald (2015–2016)
* Bowyer (2016–2018)
* McPhillips (2018–2019)
* Grayson (2019–2020)
* Dunnc (2020)
* Critchleyh (2020–2022)
* Appletonh (2022–2023)
* McCarthyh (2023)
* Dobbiec (2023)
* Critchleyh (2023–2024)
* Keoghc (2024)
* Bruce (2024–)

c = caretaker; h = head coach

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Lists of English football managers by club

Premier League|

* AFC Bournemouth
* Arsenal
* Aston Villa
* Brentford
* Brighton & Hove Albion
* Burnley
* Chelsea
* Crystal Palace
* Everton
* Fulham
* Leeds United
* Liverpool
* Manchester City
* Manchester United
* Newcastle United
* Nottingham Forest
* Sunderland
* Tottenham Hotspur
* West Ham United
* Wolverhampton Wanderers

Championship|

* Birmingham City
* Blackburn Rovers
* Bristol City
* Charlton Athletic
* Coventry City
* Derby County
* Hull City
* Ipswich Town
* Leicester City
* Middlesbrough
* Millwall
* Norwich City
* Oxford United
* Portsmouth
* Preston North End
* Queens Park Rangers
* Sheffield United
* Sheffield Wednesday
* Southampton
* Stoke City
* Swansea City
* Watford
* West Bromwich Albion
* Wrexham

League One|

* AFC Wimbledon
* Barnsley
* Blackpool
* Bolton Wanderers
* Bradford City
* Burton Albion
* Cardiff City
* Doncaster Rovers
* Exeter City
* Huddersfield Town
* Leyton Orient
* Lincoln City
* Luton Town
* Mansfield Town
* Northampton Town
* Peterborough United
* Plymouth Argyle
* Port Vale
* Reading
* Rotherham United
* Stevenage
* Stockport County
* Wigan Athletic
* Wycombe Wanderers

League Two|

* Accrington Stanley
* Barnet
* Barrow
* Bristol Rovers
* Bromley
* Cambridge United
* Cheltenham Town
* Chesterfield
* Colchester United
* Crawley Town
* Crewe Alexandra
* Fleetwood Town
* Gillingham
* Grimsby Town
* Harrogate Town
* Milton Keynes Dons
* Newport County
* Notts County
* Oldham Athletic
* Salford City
* Shrewsbury Town
* Swindon Town
* Tranmere Rovers
* Walsall

Non-League|

* Bury
* Carlisle United
* Hartlepool United
* Maidstone United
* Margate
* Rochdale
* Tamworth
* Torquay United
* Yeovil Town
* York City

Clubs are grouped by their division in the 2025–26 season
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