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
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 Barcroft 1 (secretary-manager)
1903
1909
220
61
55
104
27.73
Jack Cox 1 (player-manager )
1909
1911
76
30
18
28
39.47
No manager
1911
1915
152
48
35
69
31.58
Bill Norman 2
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 Suart 1
1 May 1958
1 February 1967
363
116
91
156
31.96
Stan Mortensen 1
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 Brown 1
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 Ball 1
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 White 1 (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 Worthington 1
8 July 1997
23 December 1999
113
34
32
47
30.09
Mike Hennigan &Mike Davies 1 (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 Hendry 1
7 June 2004
10 November 2005
62
18
19
25
29.03
Simon Grayson 1 (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 Ferguson 1 (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 Grayson 1
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 Critchley 3
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
^1 – Also played for Blackpool^2 – Norman was the club's first full-time manager^3 – Position known as head coach henceforth
References
Specific
History Home stadium Rivalries Related articles
c = caretaker; h = head coach