Wikipedia

List of Manchester City F.C. managers

This is a chronological list of Manchester City managers, comprising all those who have held the position of manager for the first team and its predecessors West Gorton (St. Marks) and Ardwick. In the Football League era the club has appointed 47 managers; including pre-league managers and temporary caretakers more than 40 men have held responsibility for team selection. Nine of them have won major silverware.

Pep Guardiola is the most successful manager in club history with eighteen trophies won, including the first-ever European Cup title.

The longest serving manager was Wilf Wild, who was in charge from 1932 to 1946, for a total length of 14 years and 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 matches – a full 240 more than Wild, who recorded the second most.

As of 2024, the most successful manager of Manchester City is incumbent Pep Guardiola, who has won 18 trophies in his eight years in charge, and is the leading manager in terms of games won and % of games won.

History

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Early years (1880s–1950s)

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Les McDowall was City manager from 1950 to 1963; his tenure of thirteen years makes him the longest-serving manager in Manchester City's history.

In the era before league football, the position of manager involved many secretarial duties, 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

Under Sam Omerod the club achieved promotion to the First Division for the first time,[4] and five years later Tom Maley became the first Manchester City manager to win a major trophy, the 1904 FA Cup.[5] A financial scandal resulted in the Football Association suspending Maley and seventeen players in 1906,[6] 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

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Joe Mercer Way Pathway close to the Etihad Stadium, dedicated to City's then-most successful manager.

Les McDowall became manager in 1950, and managed the Blues for more league seasons than any other manager.[7] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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".[9]

During Peter Swales' time as Manchester City chairman the tenure of managers was frequently brief, as between 1973 and 1994 eleven managers were appointed.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] Brian Horton arrived from Oxford to sceptical newspaper headlines of "Brian Who?",[13] but developed a reputation for attractive football.[14] 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,[15] who resigned on ill health grounds after 32 days as manager.[16] 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.

2000–2016, the Thaksin era and the Abu Dhabi era – domestic success

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Manuel Pellegrini led City to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2016.
 
Roberto Mancini led City to league success for the first time in 44 years in 2012.

Under Royle's replacement Kevin Keegan the club changed division for a fifth successive season,[17] setting club records for the number of points gained and goals scored in a season.[18] 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 non-British Manchester City manager, replacing the sacked Stuart Pearce, who had served for two years following an initial spell as caretaker.[19] 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+1⁄2 seasons in charge, Mancini was sacked on 13 May 2013 following defeat in the FA Cup Final versus Wigan Athletic.[20]

On 14 June 2013, Manuel Pellegrini was confirmed as the new manager of the club after signing a 3-year contract and was the third manager, after Roberto Mancini and Brian Kidd (the latter as caretaker), to take charge of City under the ownership of ADUG.[21]

On 1 February 2016, Pellegrini announced that, despite signing a contract extension at the beginning of the 2015–16 season, he would be leaving upon the conclusion of his third season as manager, with his contract ending as originally planned upon his arrival in 2013.[22] He would depart having won the 2013–14 Premier League & two League Cups, in 2013–14 & 2015–16, and also guiding City to its first-ever Champions League semi-final in 2016.

2016–present, Guardiola's golden era – domestic and continental trebles, records and four-peat

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On the same day that Pellegrini announced his planned departure, City confirmed that Pep Guardiola had agreed to succeed him as manager, with his tenure beginning on 1 July 2016.[22] Despite a trophy-less first season in 2016–17, Guardiola would lead City to unprecedented success in the following six seasons. In 2017–18, City won the Premier League with 100 points, setting countless records along the way whilst also winning the 2017–18 EFL Cup. The following season, the club became the first in the history of English football to complete the domestic treble by winning the Premier League, FA Cup & League Cup. Having won the Community Shield at the start of the season, City became the first team to clinch all four major English domestic honours in one season and to hold all four simultaneously.

In 2022–23, City became only the fifth club to win three successive top-flight titles in England, following Huddersfield Town (1924–26), Arsenal (1933–35), Liverpool (1982–84) and Manchester United, who did it twice under Sir Alex Ferguson (1999-2001 and 2007–09). It was also the third occasion Guardiola had managed to win three league titles in a row, having done so in La Liga with Barcelona from 2009 to 2011 and in the Bundesliga from 2014 to 2016 with Bayern Munich.

On the European stage, Guardiola's first few seasons ended in disappointment with three consecutive quarter-final exits in (2018, 2019, 2020) and the round of 16 elimination in 2017. He then took City to a first Champions League final in 2021, but lost to Chelsea. In 2022, City were dramatically eliminated in the semi-final by Real Madrid, conceding two late goals to lose a 5–3 advantage. Perseverance finally paid off in 2023, as City won their first Champions League title, convincingly beating Real Madrid in the semi-final 5–1 on aggregate and defeating Inter Milan in the final to become only the second English team to complete the continental treble.

Guardiola has become Manchester City's most successful manager in club history, having won 18 major English, continental and worldwide titles to date. He has won more than 300 games and maintains a win percentage in excess of 72%, at least 12% higher than any proceeding manager.

Managers

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As of match played 9 November 2024. Statistics include competitive matches only, pre-Football League and wartime matches are excluded. Cup losses or wins in a penalty shoot-out are counted as draws. Caretakers are shown in italics.
Name Nationality From To M W D L GF GA Win % Honours
Hopkinson FrederickFrederick Hopkinson   England 1880 1882 – – – – – – – –
Jack McGeeJack McGee   Ireland 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 46 038.46 –
Joshua Parlby   England August 1893 May 1895 59 22 5 32 129 146 037.29 –
Sam Ormerod   England August 1895 July 1902 240 111 50 79 433 354 046.25 1 Second Division title
Tom Maley   Scotland July 1902 July 1906 150 89 22 39 322 179 059.33 1 Second Division title
1 FA Cup
Harry Newbould   England July 1906 July 1912 245 93 61 91 390 376 037.96 1 Second Division title
Committee July 1912 September 1912 2 2 0 0 2 0 100.00 –
Ernest Mangnall   England 9 September 1912 June 1924 350 151 117 82 500 457 043.14 –
David Ashworth   England July 1924 14 November 1925 59 20 13 26 113 121 033.90 –
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 80 579 447 046.74 1 Second Division title
Wilf Wild   England 14 March 1932 1 December 1946 352 158 71 123 703 562 044.89 1 First Division title
1 FA Cup
1 Charity Shield
Sam Cowan   England 2 December 1946 30 June 1947 30 20 6 4 53 27 066.67 1 Second Division title
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 45 122 156 030.43 –
Les McDowall   Scotland June 1950 May 1963 592 220 127 245 1,049 1,134 037.16 1 FA Cup
George Poyser   England 12 July 1963 April 1965 89 38 17 34 159 137 042.70 –
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 97 518 358 043.82 1 First Division title
1 Second Division title
1 FA Cup
1 League Cup
1 Charity Shield
1 Cup Winners' Cup
Malcolm Allison   England 7 October 1971 30 March 1973 78 32 21 25 119 106 041.03 1 Charity Shield
Johnny Hart   England 30 March 1973 22 October 1973 22 11 5 6 26 22 050.00 –
Tony Book   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 33 034.48 –
Tony Book   England 12 April 1974 July 1979 269 114 75 80 405 309 042.38 1 League Cup
Malcolm Allison   England 16 July 1979 8 October 1980 60 15 20 25 63 95 025.00 –
Tony Book   England 9 October 1980 16 October 1980 1 0 0 1 1 3 0.00 –
John Bond   England 17 October 1980 3 February 1983 123 51 32 40 171 152 041.46 –
John Benson   Scotland 3 February 1983 7 June 1983 17 3 2 12 13 32 017.65
Billy McNeill   Scotland 30 June 1983 20 September 1986 156 63 42 51 223 183 040.38 –
Jimmy Frizzell   Scotland 21 September 1986 May 1987 42 10 12 20 40 61 023.81 –
Mel Machin   England May 1987 29 November 1989 130 59 27 44 225 179 045.38 –
Tony Book   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 37 034.21 –
Peter Reid   England 11 November 1990 26 August 1993 136 59 31 46 199 166 043.38 –
Tony Book   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 34 118 130 030.21 –
Alan Ball   England 30 June 1995 26 August 1996 49 13 14 22 49 70 026.53 –
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 10 033.33 –
Phil Neal   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 60 033.90 –
Joe Royle   England 18 February 1998 21 May 2001 171 74 46 51 261 192 043.27 1 Second Division play-off
Kevin Keegan   England 24 May 2001 11 March 2005 176 77 39 60 299 223 043.75 1 First Division title
Stuart Pearce   England 21 March 2005 14 May 2007[23] 96 34 19 43 103 111 035.42 –
Sven-Göran Eriksson   Sweden 6 July 2007[24] 2 June 2008[25] 45 19 11 15 51 58 042.22 –
Mark Hughes   Wales 4 June 2008[26] 19 December 2009[27] 77 36 15 26 129 101 046.75 –
Roberto Mancini   Italy 19 December 2009[27] 13 May 2013 191 113 38 40 360 173 059.16 1 Premier League title
1 FA Cup
1 Community Shield
Brian Kidd   England 13 May 2013 14 June 2013 2 1 0 1 4 3 50.00 –
Manuel Pellegrini[28]   Chile 14 June 2013 30 June 2016 167 100 28 39 373 177 059.88 1 Premier League title
2 League Cups
Pep Guardiola[29]   Spain 1 July 2016[30] Incumbent 490 353 70 67 1,200 407 072.04 6 Premier League titles
2 FA Cups
4 League Cups
3 Community Shields
1 UEFA Champions League title
1 UEFA Super Cup
1 FIFA Club World Cup

Most trophies won

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As of 10 August 2024
Name FD/PL FAC LC CS UEFA/FIFA Total
  Pep Guardiola 6 2 4 3 3 18
  Joe Mercer 1 1 1 1 1 5
  Manuel Pellegrini 1 0 2 0 0 3
  Roberto Mancini 1 1 0 1 0 3
  Wilf Wild 1 1 0 1 0 3
  Les McDowall 0 1 0 0 0 1
  Tom Maley 0 1 0 0 0 1
  Tony Book 0 0 1 0 0 1
  Malcolm Allison 0 0 0 1 0 1
Total 10 7 8 7 4 36

References

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  • "Managers". mcfcstats.com. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
  • James, Gary (2006). Manchester City – The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-512-0.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ James, Gary (2006). Manchester City – The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-512-0. p233
  2. ^ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p20
  3. ^ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p234
  4. ^ Manchester City - The Complete Record, p235–6
  5. ^ Clayton, David (2002). Everything under the blue moon: the complete book of Manchester City FC – and more!. Edinburgh: Mainstream publishing. ISBN 1-84018-687-9. p136
  6. ^ James, Gary (2005). The Official Manchester City Hall of Fame. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-61282-1. p93
  7. ^ a b Manchester City – The Complete Record, p246
  8. ^ Penney, Ian (2001). Manchester City – The Mercer-Allison Years. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-250-4. p7
  9. ^ Penney, p144
  10. ^ "Peter Swales: Obituary". Independent. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
  11. ^ "After all that ... this". Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
  12. ^ Everything Under the Blue Moon, p172
  13. ^ "Brian Horton". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
  14. ^ Blue Moon Rising, p90
  15. ^ "Roller-coaster years". BBC. 7 May 2001. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  16. ^ Buckley, Andy; Burgess, Richard (2000). Blue Moon Rising: The Fall and Rise of Manchester City. Bury: Milo. ISBN 0-9530847-4-4. p132
  17. ^ "Manchester City". Goal. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  18. ^ Manchester City – The Complete Record, p265
  19. ^ "Hughes becomes Man City manager". BBC Sport. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  20. ^ "Roberto Mancini sacked as Manchester City manager". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City appoint Chilean as manager". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  22. ^ a b "Pep Guardiola to succeed Manuel Pellegrini as Manchester City boss". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Pearce sacked as Man City manager". BBC News. 6 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
  24. ^ "Eriksson named as Man City boss". BBC News. 6 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
  25. ^ "Sven-Goran Eriksson leaves Manchester City". Manchester City FC. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  26. ^ "Manchester City appoint Mark Hughes". Manchester City FC. 4 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  27. ^ a b "Mark Hughes sacked as Man City appoint Mancini manager". BBC Sport. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  28. ^ Pellegrini's wins exclude a drawn cup match won on penalties
  29. ^ Guardiola's wins exclude 6 draws & losses exclude 4 draws in cup matches won/lost on penalties
  30. ^ "Pep Guardiola to succeed Manuel Pellegrini as Manchester City boss". BBC Sport. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

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