List of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers

Bristol Rovers first full-time manager, Alfred Homer.

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 Sir Darryl Clarke who guided Bristol Rovers to back-to-back promotions, the first in the clubs long and proud history making him the most successful Bristol Rovers manager ever.

In all the club has had 32 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 23 October 2016

Name	Nationality	Bristol Rovers career	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	% won[1]	Honours	Notes
Homer, AlfredAlfred Homer	England	Summer 1899 – July 1920	652	243	148	261	37.3	Southern League champions, 3 Gloucestershire Cups
Hall, BenBen Hall	England	July 1920 – May 1921	45	19	7	19	42.2	-
Wilson, AndrewAndrew Wilson	Scotland	June 1921 – April 1926	230	74	64	92	32.2	Gloucestershire Cup winner
Palmer, JoeJoe Palmer	England	May 1926 – April 1929	138	48	22	68	34.8	Gloucestershire Cup winner
McLean, DavidDavid McLean	Scotland	May 1929 – September 1930	58	16	12	30	27.6	-
Prince-Cox, AlbertAlbert Prince-Cox	England	October 1930 – October 1936	295	115	67	113	39.0	Division 3 South Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups
Smith, PercyPercy Smith	England	November 1936 – November 1937	52	17	9	26	32.7	-
Fletcher, BroughBrough Fletcher	England	January 1938 – January 1950	227	80	49	98	35.2	3 Gloucestershire Cups
Tann, BertBert Tann	England	January 1950 – April 1968	897	369	216	314	41.1	Division 3 South champions, Gloucestershire Cups: won 5, shared 5
Ford, FredFred Ford	England	April 1968 – July 1969	70	26	16	28	37.1	-
Dodgin, Sr., BillBill Dodgin, Sr.	England	August 1969 – July 1972	163	72	47	44	44.2	-
Megson, DonDon Megson	England	July 1972 – November 1977	269	91	85	93	33.8	Watney Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups, promotion to Division 2
Campbell, BobbyBobby Campbell	Scotland	November 1977 – December 1979	91	32	19	40	35.2	-
Jarman, HaroldHarold Jarman	England	December 1979 – April 1980	24	7	9	8	29.2	-
Cooper, TerryTerry Cooper	England	April 1980 – October 1981	68	13	19	36	19.1	-
Gingell, RonRon Gingell (caretaker)	England	October 1981	1	0	1	0	0.0	-
Gould, BobbyBobby Gould	England	October 1981 – May 1983	91	40	17	34	44.0	2 Gloucestershire Cups
Williams, DavidDavid Williams	Wales	May 1983 – May 1985	108	51	28	29	47.2	2 Gloucestershire Cups
Gould, BobbyBobby Gould	England	May 1985 – June 1987	105	31	25	49	29.5	-
Francis, GerryGerry Francis	England	July 1987 – May 1991	209	86	62	61	41.1	Division 3 champions, 2 Gloucestershire Cups
Dobson, MartinMartin Dobson	England	July 1991 – October 1991	12	1	2	9	8.3	-
Rofe, DennisDennis Rofe	England	October 1991 – November 1992	63	21	18	24	33.3	Gloucestershire Cup winner
Allison, MalcolmMalcolm Allison	England	November 1992 – February 1993	18	6	4	8	33.3	-
Cross, SteveSteve Cross (caretaker)	England	March 1993	3	0	1	2	0.0	-
Ward, JohnJohn Ward	England	March 1993 – May 1996	181	77	49	55	42.5	2 Gloucestershire Cups
Holloway, IanIan Holloway	England	June 1996 – January 2001	249	92	67	90	36.9	-
Thompson, GarryGarry Thompson (caretaker)	England	January 2001 – May 2001	24	7	5	12	29.2	-	[2]
Francis, GerryGerry Francis	England	July 2001 – December 2001	31	9	10	12	29.0	-	[3]
Thompson, GarryGarry Thompson	England	December 2001 – April 2002	23	7	5	11	30.4	-	[2]
Bater, PhilPhil Bater (caretaker)	Wales	April 2002	3	0	1	2	0.0	-	[4]
Graydon, RayRay Graydon	England	April 2002 – January 2004	81	22	22	37	27.2	-	[5]
Bater, PhilPhil Bater (caretaker)	Wales	January 2004 – March 2004	11	1	5	5	9.1	-	[4]
Osman, RussellRussell Osman Broadhurst, KevanKevan Broadhurst (joint caretakers)	England	March 2004 – April 2004	6	3	1	2	50.0	-	[6][7][8]
Atkins, IanIan Atkins	England	April 2004 – September 2005	68	21	26	21	30.9	-	[9]
Trollope, PaulPaul Trollope	Wales	September 2005 – December 2010	284	106	71	107	37.3	League 2 play-off winner	[10]
Patterson, DarrenDarren Patterson (caretaker)	Northern Ireland	December 2010 – January 2011	2	0	0	2	0.0		[11]
Penney, DaveDave Penney	England	January 2011 – March 2011	13	2	2	9	15.4		[12]
Campbell, StuartStuart Campbell (caretaker)	Scotland	March 2011 – May 2011	12	4	3	5	33.3		[13]
Buckle, PaulPaul Buckle	England	May 2011 – January 2012	29	8	6	15	27.5		[14]
McGhee, MarkMark McGhee	Scotland	January 2012 – December 2012	45	12	12	21	26.6		[15]
Ward, JohnJohn Ward	England	December 2012 – March 2014	69	24	21	24	34.7		[16]
Clarke, DarrellDarrell Clarke	England	March 2014 –	128	64	31	33	50.0	Conference Premier play-off winner, promotion to League One	[17]

Notes

1. Rounded to one decimal place
2. "Garry Thompson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
3. "Gerry Francis's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
4. "Phil Bater's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
5. "Ray Graydon's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
6. Russell Osman and Kevan Broadhurst were appointed joint caretaker managers at the end of the 2003–04 season
7. "Russell Osman's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
8. "Kevan Broadhurst's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
9. "Ian Atkins's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
10. "Paul Trollope's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
11. "Darren Patterson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
12. "Dave Penney's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
13. bbc sport 07.05.11
14. bbc sport 05.01.12
15. "Mark McGhee's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
16. "John Ward's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
17. "Darrell Clarke's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

References

• 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. Retrieved 2007-05-31.

External links

• Bristol Rovers official website