List of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Alfred_Homer.jpg/150px-Alfred_Homer.jpg)
This is a list of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers since the club appointed its first full-time manager in 1899, along with the number of competitive games managed, winning percentage and titles won.
Although the club were founded in 1883, they did not appoint a full-time manager until 1899, when Alfred Homer, who was assistant secretary of Aston Villa, was appointed as manager-secretary of Bristol Rovers, a position he held for twenty-one years. On joining the Football League in 1920, the club appointed Ben Hall to the manager's post. Hall held the job for one year before handing over to Andrew Wilson, the club's first non-English manager.
The next significant manager of Bristol Rovers was Albert Prince-Cox, who introduced blue-and-white quarters as the team's kit because he believed it made the players look larger and more intimidating. He also became the first manager to win a major cup competition with the club when they won the Division 3 (South) Cup in 1935. More success followed in the 1952–53 season when Bristol Rovers' longest serving post-war manager, Bert Tann, won a league title for the first time since 1905 and won promotion for the first time ever when the club won Division 3 (South). Tann remained in charge for eighteen years from 1950 to 1968.
Don Megson was the next manager to win a major trophy, taking the Watney Cup in 1972 in only his third game in charge. Following this, only two more managers won any silverware at a national level. These were Gerry Francis, who won the Division 3 title in 1989–90, and most recently Paul Trollope, who won the League 2 play-off final in 2007. That was until the appointment of Darrell Clarke who guided Bristol Rovers to back-to-back promotions, the first in the club's history making him the most successful Bristol Rovers manager ever.
In all the club has had 33 full-time managers (excluding caretaker managers).
Managers
- All statistics are from Bristol Rovers Football Club – The Definitive History 1883–2003 unless otherwise stated.
- Information correct as of 11 March 2020
Name | Nationality | Bristol Rovers career | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | % won[α] | Honours | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alfred Homer | ![]() |
Summer 1899 – July 1920 | 652 | 243 | 148 | 261 | 37.3 | Southern League champions, 3 Gloucestershire Cups | |
Ben Hall | ![]() |
July 1920 – May 1921 | 45 | 19 | 7 | 19 | 42.2 | - | |
Andrew Wilson | ![]() |
June 1921 – April 1926 | 230 | 74 | 64 | 92 | 32.2 | Gloucestershire Cup winner | |
Joe Palmer | ![]() |
May 1926 – April 1929 | 138 | 48 | 22 | 68 | 34.8 | Gloucestershire Cup winner | |
David McLean | ![]() |
May 1929 – September 1930 | 58 | 16 | 12 | 30 | 27.6 | - | |
Albert Prince-Cox | ![]() |
October 1930 – October 1936 | 295 | 115 | 67 | 113 | 39.0 | Division 3 South Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups | |
Percy Smith | ![]() |
November 1936 – November 1937 | 52 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 32.7 | - | |
Brough Fletcher | ![]() |
January 1938 – January 1950 | 227 | 80 | 49 | 98 | 35.2 | 3 Gloucestershire Cups | |
Bert Tann | ![]() |
January 1950 – April 1968 | 897 | 369 | 216 | 314 | 41.1 | Division 3 South champions, Gloucestershire Cups: won 5, shared 5 | |
Fred Ford | ![]() |
April 1968 – July 1969 | 70 | 26 | 16 | 28 | 37.1 | - | |
Bill Dodgin Sr. | ![]() |
August 1969 – July 1972 | 163 | 72 | 47 | 44 | 44.2 | - | |
Don Megson | ![]() |
July 1972 – November 1977 | 269 | 91 | 85 | 93 | 33.8 | Watney Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups, promotion to Division 2 | |
Bobby Campbell | ![]() |
November 1977 – December 1979 | 91 | 32 | 19 | 40 | 35.2 | - | |
Harold Jarman | ![]() |
December 1979 – April 1980 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 29.2 | - | |
Terry Cooper | ![]() |
April 1980 – October 1981 | 68 | 13 | 19 | 36 | 19.1 | - | |
Ron Gingell (caretaker) | ![]() |
October 1981 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | - | |
Bobby Gould | ![]() |
May 1985 – June 1987 |
October 1981 – May 1983196 | 71 | 42 | 83 | 36.2 | 2 Gloucestershire Cups | |
David Williams | ![]() |
May 1983 – May 1985 | 108 | 51 | 28 | 29 | 47.2 | 2 Gloucestershire Cups | |
Gerry Francis | ![]() |
July 2001 – December 2001 |
July 1987 – May 1991240 | 95 | 72 | 73 | 39.6 | Division 3 champions, 2 Gloucestershire Cups | [1] |
Martin Dobson | ![]() |
July 1991 – October 1991 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8.3 | - | |
Dennis Rofe | ![]() |
October 1991 – November 1992 | 63 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 33.3 | Gloucestershire Cup winner | |
Malcolm Allison | ![]() |
November 1992 – February 1993 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 | - | |
Steve Cross (caretaker) | ![]() |
March 1993 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | - | |
John Ward | ![]() |
December 2012 – March 2014 |
March 1993 – May 1996250 | 101 | 70 | 79 | 40.4 | 2 Gloucestershire Cups | [2] |
Ian Holloway | ![]() |
June 1996 – January 2001 | 249 | 92 | 67 | 90 | 36.9 | - | |
Garry Thompson | ![]() |
[β] December 2001 – April 2002 |
January 2001 – May 200147 | 14 | 10 | 23 | 29.8 | - | [3] |
Phil Bater (caretaker) | ![]() |
January 2004 – March 2004 |
April 200214 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 7.1 | - | [4] |
Ray Graydon | ![]() |
April 2002 – January 2004 | 81 | 22 | 22 | 37 | 27.2 | - | [5] |
Russell Osman Kevan Broadhurst (joint caretakers)[γ] |
![]() |
March 2004 – April 2004 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | - | [6][7] |
Ian Atkins | ![]() |
April 2004 – September 2005 | 68 | 21 | 26 | 21 | 30.9 | - | [8] |
Paul Trollope | ![]() |
September 2005 – December 2010 | 284 | 106 | 71 | 107 | 37.3 | League 2 play-off winner | [9] |
Darren Patterson (caretaker) | ![]() |
December 2010 – January 2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | [10] | |
Dave Penney | ![]() |
January 2011 – March 2011 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 15.4 | [11] | |
Stuart Campbell (caretaker) | ![]() |
March 2011 – May 2011 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 33.3 | [12] | |
Paul Buckle | ![]() |
May 2011 – January 2012 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 27.5 | [13] | |
Mark McGhee | ![]() |
January 2012 – December 2012 | 45 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 26.6 | [14] | |
Darrell Clarke | ![]() |
March 2014 – December 2018 | 246 | 104 | 56 | 86 | 42.3 | Conference Premier play-off winner, promotion to League One | [15] |
Graham Coughlan | ![]() |
December 2018 – December 2019 | 56 | 25 | 18 | 13 | 44.6 | [16] | |
Joe Dunne (caretaker) | ![]() |
December 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | [17] | |
Kevin Maher (caretaker) | ![]() |
January 2020[δ] |
December 20193 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | [18] | |
Ben Garner | ![]() |
[ε] | December 2019 –16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12.5 |
Notes
- ^ Win percentage is rounded to one decimal place
- ^ Garry Thompson was caretaker manager for his first spell in charge
- ^ Russell Osman and Kevan Broadhurst were appointed joint caretaker managers at the end of the 2003–04 season
- ^ Kevin Maher was caretaker manager for one game before the appointment of Ben Garner, then again when Garner was granted compassionate leave
- ^ Ben Garner was away on compassionate leave from the 12th to the 22nd January 2020 due to a family illness.[19]
References
- ^ "Gerry Francis's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "John Ward's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Garry Thompson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Phil Bater's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Ray Graydon's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 20 January 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Russell Osman's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Kevan Broadhurst's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Ian Atkins's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Paul Trollope's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "Darren Patterson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "Dave Penney's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
- ^ bbc sport 07.05.11
- ^ bbc sport 05.01.12
- ^ "Mark McGhee's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ "Darrell Clarke's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ^ "Graham Coughlan". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
- ^ "Joe Dunne". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "Kevin Maher". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "Bristol Rovers: Ben Garner granted extended leave as manager over family matter". BBC Sport. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
Bibliography
- Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2003). Bristol Rovers Football Club – The Definitive History 1883–2003. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2717-2.
- "Bristol Rovers manager history". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
External links