List of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers explained

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 35 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 match played 6 April 2024

Name	Nationality	Bristol Rovers career	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	% won	Honours	Notes
		1899Summer 1899 – July 1920	652	243	148	261	37.3	Southern League champions, 3 Gloucestershire Cups
		1920July 1920 – May 1921	45	19	7	19	42.2	-
		1921June 1921 – April 1926	230	74	64	92	32.2	Gloucestershire Cup winner
		1926May 1926 – April 1929	138	48	22	68	34.8	Gloucestershire Cup winner
		1929May 1929 – September 1930	58	16	12	30	27.6	-
		1930October 1930 – October 1936	295	115	67	113	39.0	Division 3 South Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups
		1936November 1936 – November 1937	52	17	9	26	32.7	-
		1938January 1938 – January 1950	227	80	49	98	35.2	3 Gloucestershire Cups
		1950January 1950 – April 1968	897	369	216	314	41.1	Division 3 South champions, Gloucestershire Cups: won 5, shared 5
		1968April 1968 – July 1969	70	26	16	28	37.1	-
		1969August 1969 – July 1972	163	72	47	44	44.2	-
		1972July 1972 – November 1977	269	91	85	93	33.8	Watney Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups, promotion to Division 2
		1977November 1977 – December 1979	91	32	19	40	35.2	-
		1979December 1979 – April 1980	24	7	9	8	29.2	-
		1980April 1980 – October 1981	68	13	19	36	19.1	-
(caretaker)		1981 (1)October 1981	1	0	1	0	0.0	-
		1981 (2)October 1981 – May 1983 May 1985 – June 1987	196	71	42	83	36.2	Gloucestershire Cup winner
		1983May 1983 – May 1985	108	51	28	29	47.2	2 Gloucestershire Cups
		1987July 1987 – May 1991 July 2001 – December 2001	240	95	72	73	39.6	Division 3 champions, 2 Gloucestershire Cups	^[1]
		1991 (1)July 1991 – October 1991	12	1	2	9	8.3	-
		1991 (2)October 1991 – November 1992	63	21	18	24	33.3	Gloucestershire Cup winner
		1992November 1992 – February 1993	18	6	4	8	33.3	-
(caretaker)		1993 (1)March 1993	3	0	1	2	0.0	-
		1993 (2)March 1993 – May 1996 December 2012 – March 2014	250	101	70	79	40.4	2 Gloucestershire Cups	^[2]
		1996June 1996 – January 2001	249	92	67	90	36.9	-
		2001 (1)January 2001 – May 2001 December 2001 – April 2002	47	14	10	23	29.8	-	^[3]
(caretaker)		2002 (1)April 2002 January 2004 – March 2004	14	1	6	7	7.1	-	^[4]
		2002 (2)April 2002 – January 2004	81	22	22	37	27.2	-	^[5]
(joint caretakers)		2004 (2)March 2004 – April 2004	6	3	2	1	50.0	-	^[6] ^[7]
		2004 (3)April 2004 – September 2005	68	21	26	21	30.9	-	^[8]
		2005September 2005 – December 2010	284	106	71	107	37.3	League 2 play-off winner	^[9]
(caretaker)		2010December 2010 – January 2011	2	0	0	2	0.0		^[10]
		2011aJanuary 2011 – March 2011	13	2	2	9	15.4		^[11]
(caretaker)		2011bMarch 2011 – May 2011	12	4	3	5	33.3		^[12]
		2011cMay 2011 – January 2012	29	8	6	15	27.5		^[13]
		2012January 2012 – December 2012	45	12	12	21	26.6		^[14]
		2014March 2014 – December 2018	246	104	56	86	42.3	Conference Premier play-off winner, promotion to League One	^[15]
		2018December 2018 – December 2019	56	25	18	13	44.6		^[16]
(caretaker)		2019aDecember 2019	1	1	0	0	100		^[17]
(caretaker)		2019bDecember 2019 January 2020	1	0	1	0	0.0		^[18]
		2019cDecember 2019 – November 2020	33	6	10	17	18.2		^[19]
(caretaker)		2020aNovember 2020 February 2021	3	2	0	1	66.6
		2020bNovember 2020 – February 2021	19	5	3	11	26.3		^[20]
		2020bFebruary 2021 – October 2023	143	53	30	60	37.1	Promotion to League One	^[21]
(caretaker)		2023aOctober 2023 – November 2023	7	4	2	1	57.1
		2023bNovember 2023 – Present	30	11	4	14	36.6

Notes

Records

Most games managed

!!Manager!Games!Years

1	Bert Tann	897	1950-1968
2	Alfred Homer	652	1899-1920
3	Albert Prince-Cox	295	1930-1936
4	Paul Trollope	284	2005-2010
5	Don Megson	269	1972-1977
6	John Ward	250	1993-1996, 2012-2014
7	Ian Holloway	249	1996-2001
8	Darrell Clarke	246	2014-2018
9	Gerry Francis	240	1987-1991, 2001
10	Andrew Wilson	230	1921-1926
11	Brough Fletcher	227	1938-1950
12	Bobby Gould	196	1981-1983, 1985-1987
13	Bill Dodgin Sr.	163	1969-1972
14	Joey Barton	143	2021-2023
15	Joe Palmer	138	1926-1929
16	David Williams	108	1983-1985

Most Wins

!!!Wins!Games!Years

1	Bert Tann	369	897	1950-1968
2	Alfred Homer	243	652	1899-1920
3	Albert Prince-Cox	115	295	1930-1936
4	Paul Trollope	106	284	2005-2010
5	Darrell Clarke	104	246	2014-2018
6	John Ward	101	250	1993-1996, 2012-2014

Highest win percentages

!!Manager!Win%!Games!Years

1	David Williams	47.2	108	1983-1985
2	Graham Coughlan	44.6	56	2018-2019
3	Bill Dodgin Sr.	44.2	163	1969-1972
4	Darrell Clarke	42.3	246	2014-2018
5	Ben Hall	42.2	45	1920-1921

Promotions

!!Manager!Promotions!Years

1	Darrell Clarke	2	2015, 2016
2	Bert Tann	1	1953
	Don Megson		1974
	Gerry Francis		1990
	Paul Trollope		2007
	Joey Barton		2022

Nationalities

!!Country!Managers

1	England	29
2	Scotland	4
3	Wales	2
4	Republic of Ireland	1

Bibliography

• Book: Byrne, Stephen . Jay, Mike . Bristol Rovers Football Club – The Definitive History 1883–2003 . 2003 . . . 0-7524-2717-2.
• Web site: Bristol Rovers manager history. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070613073735/http://www.soccerbase.com/manager_history.sd?teamid=388. 13 June 2007. dead. dmy-all.

External links

• Bristol Rovers official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gerry Francis's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001043512/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=533. 1 October 2007. live. dmy-all.
2. Web site: John Ward's managerial career. Soccerbase. 29 May 2013. 9 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111109214103/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=850. live.
3. Web site: Garry Thompson's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001223839/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1640. 1 October 2007. live. dmy-all.
4. Web site: Phil Bater's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930230410/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1797. 30 September 2007. live. dmy-all.
5. Web site: Ray Graydon's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20050120163110/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1348. 20 January 2005. live. dmy-all.
6. Web site: Russell Osman's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001215510/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1109. 1 October 2007. live. dmy-all.
7. Web site: Kevan Broadhurst's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001215943/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1586. 1 October 2007. live. dmy-all.
8. Web site: Ian Atkins's managerial career. Soccerbase. 31 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001105220/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=622. 1 October 2007. live. dmy-all.
9. Web site: Paul Trollope's managerial career. Soccerbase. 7 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20091011114951/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=2011. 11 October 2009. live. dmy-all.
10. Web site: Darren Patterson's managerial career. Soccerbase. 7 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20041215185505/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1925. 15 December 2004. live. dmy-all.
11. Web site: Dave Penney's managerial career. Soccerbase. 10 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930230339/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1903. 30 September 2007. live. dmy-all.
12. bbc sport 07.05.11
13. bbc sport 05.01.12
14. Web site: Mark McGhee's managerial career. Soccerbase. 23 January 2012. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061750/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?search=Mark+McGhee&manager_id=928&type=manager. live.
15. Web site: Darrell Clarke's managerial career. Soccerbase. 30 August 2013. 4 June 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140604181229/http://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=2558. live.
16. Web site: Graham Coughlan. Soccerbase. 15 December 2018. 17 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217072321/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=4994. live.
17. Web site: Joe Dunne. Soccerbase. 20 December 2018. 20 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130220213616/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=2170. live.
18. Web site: Kevin Maher. Soccerbase. 20 December 2018. 9 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180209033441/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=3875. live.
19. Web site: Ben Garner. Soccerbase. 19 November 2020. 19 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220519204746/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=5555. live.
20. Web site: Paul Tisdale. Soccerbase. 19 November 2020. 8 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220608113229/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=2080. live.
21. Web site: Joey Barton. Soccerbase. 27 February 2021. 27 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190527004150/https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=4803. live.