List of Port Vale F.C. managers

The following is a list of Port Vale managers from 1876, when the club were founded, to the present day. It details the record of the managers and their honours.

Although the club were founded in 1876, they did not appoint a full-time manager until 1896, when Sam Gleaves was appointed as manager, a position he held for nine years. Before him, Enoch Hood was the club captain from between 1879 and 1896 (appointed age 18); in this role he acted much the same as a manager.

Vale's first major success was with Tom Morgan, who managed the club to the Third Division North title in the 1929–1930 season.

The first confirmed non-English manager during peacetime was Jock Cameron, who held the job for a year following World War I. Freddie Steele was a highly successful manager, who took the club to their second Third Division North title in 1953–54. In 1957 Scotsman Norman Low took the managerial reins, winning the Fourth Division title in 1958–59.

The next manager of note was Sir Stanley Matthews, who was full-time manager for less than a year; his resignation followed a scandal involving players' pay. Widely considered to be the club's greatest ever manager, John Rudge led the "Valiants" to cup glory in 1993; his best success was the league however, securing three promotions in his sixteen-year reign. Bruno Ribeiro, from Portugal, became the first manager born outside of Britain to manage the club when he was appointed as manager in June 2016.

In all the club has had 32 full-time managers (excluding caretaker managers), with four managers having two separate reigns.

Managers

• As of 8 May 2016. Only professional, competitive matches are counted.

Name	Nationality	From	To	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %[1]	Honours	Notes
Gleaves, SamSam Gleaves	England	August 1896	May 1905	292	86	56	100	29.5	—	[2]
Clare, TommyTommy Clare	England	August 1905	May 1911	80	25	12	43	31.3	—	[3]
Myatt, HarryHarry Myatt	England	October 1913	May 1914	—	—	—	—	—	Birmingham Cup winners	[4]
Cameron, JockJock Cameron	Scotland	August 1918	January 1919	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Schofield, JoeJoe Schofield	England	March 1920	October 1930	266	112	53	101	43.6	—	[5]
Holford, TomTom Holford	England	1919 June 1932	March 1920 September 1935	312	101	69	142	32.4	Staffs' Cup winners	[6]
Cresswell, WarnefordWarneford Cresswell	England	July 1936	May 1937	40	16	9	15	40.0	—	[7]
Morgan, TomTom Morgan	England	October 1930 December 1937	May 1932 April 1938	125	55	48	22	44.0	Third Division North champions	[8]
Diffin, JackJack Diffin	Northern Ireland	August 1944	December 1944	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
Pratt, DavidDavid Pratt	Scotland	December 1944	August 1945	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
Frith, BillyBilly Frith	England	August 1945	October 1946	13	5	5	3	38.5	—	[9]
Hodgson, GordonGordon Hodgson	England	October 1946	June 1951	222	84	54	84	37.8	—	[10]
Powell, IvorIvor Powell	Wales	June 1951	December 1951	19	2	8	9	10.5	—	[11]
Low, NormanNorman Low	Scotland	February 1957	October 1962	285	116	65	104	40.7	Fourth Division champions	[12]
Steele, FreddieFreddie Steele	England	December 1951 October 1962	January 1957 February 1965	367	143	104	120	39.0	Third Division North champions Third Division North runners-up	[13]
Mudie, JackieJackie Mudie	Scotland	March 1965	May 1967	101	34	25	42	33.7	—	[14]
Matthews, StanleyStanley Matthews	England	May 1967	April 1968	48	11	16	21	22.9	—	[15]
Lee, GordonGordon Lee	England	May 1968	January 1974	258	94	80	84	36.4	Fourth Division promotion	[16]
Sproson, RoyRoy Sproson	England	January 1974	October 1977	174	52	59	63	29.9	—	[17]
Smith, BobbyBobby Smith	England	November 1977	May 1978	34	6	15	13	17.6	—	[18]
Butler, DennisDennis Butler	England	May 1978	August 1979	49	14	14	21	28.6	—	[19]
Bloor, AlanAlan Bloor	England	August 1979	December 1979	17	5	4	8	29.4	—	[20]
McGrath, JohnJohn McGrath	England	December 1979	December 1983	180	66	51	63	36.7	Fourth Division promotion	[21]
Rudge, JohnJohn Rudge	England	December 1983	January 1999	748	278	212	258	37.2	Third Division runners-up Third Division play-offs Fourth Division promotion League Trophy winners	[22]
Horton, BrianBrian Horton	England	January 1999	February 2004	262	84	67	111	32.1	Staffs' Cup winners League Trophy winners	[23]
Foyle, MartinMartin Foyle	England	February 2004	September 2007	184	68	34	82	37.0	—	[24]
Sinnott, LeeLee Sinnott	England	November 2007	September 2008	44	9	11	24	20.5	—	[25]
Glover, DeanDean Glover	England	October 2008	May 2009	39	12	8	19	30.8	—	[26]
Gannon, JimJim Gannon	Republic of Ireland	January 2011	March 2011	15	4	4	7	26.7	—	[27]
Adams, MickyMicky Adams	England	June 2009 May 2011	December 2010 September 2014	248	102	65	81	40.4	League Two promotion	[28]
Page, RobRob Page	Wales	September 2014	May 2016	93	35	20	38	37.6	—	[29]
Ribeiro, BrunoBruno Ribeiro	Portugal	June 2016	Present	0	0	0	0	0.0	—

References

1. Winning percentage is correct to one decimal place.
2. Sam Gleaves management career statistics at Soccerbase
3. Tom Clare management career statistics at Soccerbase
4. Harry Myatt management career statistics at Soccerbase
5. Joe Schofield management career statistics at Soccerbase
6. Tom Holford management career statistics at Soccerbase
7. Warney Cresswell management career statistics at Soccerbase
8. Tom Morgan management career statistics at Soccerbase
9. Billy Frith management career statistics at Soccerbase
10. Gordon Hodgson management career statistics at Soccerbase
11. Ivor Powell management career statistics at Soccerbase
12. Norman Low management career statistics at Soccerbase
13. Freddie Steele management career statistics at Soccerbase
14. Jackie Mudie management career statistics at Soccerbase
15. Stanley Matthews management career statistics at Soccerbase
16. Gordon Lee management career statistics at Soccerbase
17. Roy Sproson management career statistics at Soccerbase
18. Bobby Smith management career statistics at Soccerbase
19. Dennis Butler management career statistics at Soccerbase
20. Alan Bloor management career statistics at Soccerbase
21. John McGrath management career statistics at Soccerbase
22. John Rudge management career statistics at Soccerbase
23. Brian Horton management career statistics at Soccerbase
24. Martin Foyle management career statistics at Soccerbase
25. Lee Sinnott management career statistics at Soccerbase
26. Dean Glover management career statistics at Soccerbase
27. Jim Gannon management career statistics at Soccerbase
28. Micky Adams management career statistics at Soccerbase
29. Robert Page management career statistics at Soccerbase