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List of Blackpool F.C. managers

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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 has, on average, appointed a new manager just under every three years. As of September 2024, the club has 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

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The statistics in the table below account for Football League and Premier League games only. Play-off games are excluded.[2]
As of 3 September 2024
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 37.5
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 0 0 0 0 0

Notes

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

References

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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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