# List of Newport County A.F.C. managers

Newport County is a Welsh professional Association football club based in the city of Newport, Wales. The club was founded in 1912 as The Newport & Monmouth County Association Football Club, nicknamed The Ironsides after the Lysaght's Orb Works in the town. The club began in the Southern League but was reformed in 1919 and elected into the Football League in 1920. The first manager of Newport County was Davy McDougall, appointed in 1912.
The club's current manager, its 52nd, is Graham Coughlan, appointed on 20 October 2022.

## History

Newport's first ever manager, the Scottish wing-half McDougall, played for the club as in its first year as a player-manager before moving to management. Billy Lucas is the club's longest serving manager having spent 17 years at Newport across three spells from 1953 to 1961, 1962–1967, and 1970–1974. Jimmy Hindmarsh is the club's longest continuously serving manager having spent 13 years at the club from 1922 until 1935. Newport's shortest reigning manager is Lee Harrison, who spent 5 days in charge as caretaker manager in 2011. The club's shortest reigning permanent manager is Eddie May who spent one month at the club during its tumultuous 1988 season.
Four managers have returned to the club for more than one spell in charge: Billy Lucas (1953–61, 1962–67, 1970–74), Colin Addison (1977–78, 1982–85), John Relish (1986, 1989–1993), and Tim Harris (1997–2002, 2011).
The club's most successful manager for honours is Len Ashurst who achieved promotion and a Cup win at the club. However Peter Beadle also achieved Cup wins and runner-up places, and Justin Edinburgh achieved a division play off victory and Cup runner-up place.
Only two County managers, John Relish and Justin Edinburgh, have been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. Edinburgh was posthumously inducted in December 2019 before a fixture between Newport and Leyton Orient, who he was manager of at the time of his unexpected death in June 2019.

## Achievements

The first manager under whom Newport won a major trophy was Billy McCandless, who guided the club to the Third Division South championship in the 1938–39 season. Newport reached the fifth round of the 1948–49 FA Cup under manager Tom Bromilow, the furthest they have gone in the competition, later equalled in 2019. They only narrowly lost the game 3–2 to Portsmouth. Bobby Evans led the club to become runners-up in the 1963 Welsh Cup. Len Ashurst achieved a third place promotion in the 1979–80 Football League Fourth Division and the club became Welsh Cup champions in 1980 under Ashhurst. In 1987 under John Lewis the club were runners-up in the Welsh Cup, losing to Merthyr in the final.
In 1989–90 John Relish secured the Hellenic League championship. Graham Rogers achieved the 1994–1995 Southern League Midland Division championship. Tim Harris again achieved the 2nd place promotion spot in the 1998–1999 Southern League Midland Division season. Peter Nicholas led the club to the runners-up spot in the 2003 FAW Premier Cup, which the club again achieved under Peter Beadle in 2007, and which was followed by Newport winning the competition the following year. Dean Holdsworth led the club to become Conference South champions in 2009–2010. The club were FA Trophy runners-up in 2012 under Justin Edinburgh. Edinburgh produced the club's most recent honours in 2013 when he went on to lead the club back into the Football League, winning the Conference National play-offs against fellow Welsh opponents Wrexham.
Michael Flynn led the club to its joint best performance in the FA Cup, playing against Manchester City in the 2018–19 FA Cup 5th Round for only the second time since 1948–49. Flynn took the club to the 2019 EFL League Two play-off finals where Newport were defeated by Tranmere Rovers and reached the semi-finals of the 2019–20 EFL Trophy where Newport lost to Salford City on penalties. Flynn again led Newport to the 2021 EFL League Two play-off final, losing 1–0 to Morecambe.

## List of managers

| No. | Name | Nationality | Contract | From | To | Length of tenure |
| 1 | Davy McDougall | Scotland | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1912 | 30 June 1913 | 1 year |
| 2 | Sam Hollis | England | Permanent | 1 July 1913 | 30 June 1917 | 5 years |
| 3 | Harry Parkes | England | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1919 | 30 June 1922 | 3 years |
| 4 | Jimmy Hindmarsh | England | Permanent | 1 July 1922 | 30 June 1935 | 13 years |
| 5 | Louis Page | England | Permanent | 1 July 1935 | 9 September 1937 | 2 years, 2 months, 9 days |
| 6 | Billy McCandless | Ireland | Permanent | 9 September 1937 | 8 April 1946 | 8 years, 7 months |
| 7 | Tom Bromilow | England | Permanent | 9 April 1946 | 30 June 1950 | 4 years, 2 months, 22 days |
| 8 | Fred Stansfield | Wales | Permanent | 1 July 1950 | 30 June 1953 | 3 years |
| 9 | Billy Lucas | Wales | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1953 | 30 June 1961 | 8 years |
| 10 | Bobby Evans | Scotland | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1961 | 30 June 1962 | 1 year |
| 11 | Billy Lucas | Wales | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1962 | 30 June 1967 | 5 years |
| 12 | Leslie Graham | England | Permanent | 1 July 1967 | 30 June 1969 | 2 years |
| 13 | Bobby Ferguson | England | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1969 | 30 June 1970 | 1 year |
| 14 | Billy Lucas | Wales | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1970 | 30 June 1974 | 4 years |
| 15 | Brian Harris | England | Permanent | 1 July 1974 | 14 March 1975 | 8 months, 14 days |
| 16 | Dave Elliott | England | Permanent / player-manager | 15 March 1975 | 30 June 1976 | 1 year, 3 months, 16 days |
| 17 | Jimmy Scoular | Scotland | Permanent | 1 July 1976 | 30 June 1977 | 1 year |
| 18 | Colin Addison | England | Permanent | 1 July 1977 | 30 June 1978 | 1 year |
| 19 | Len Ashurst | England | Permanent | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1982 | 4 years |
| 20 | Colin Addison | England | Permanent | 1 July 1982 | 30 June 1985 | 3 years, 1 month |
| 21 | Bobby Smith | England | Permanent | 1 June 1985 | 25 March 1986 | 9 months, 25 days |
| 22 | John Relish | England | Player-manager | 25 March 1986 | 30 June 1986 | 3 months, 6 days |
| 23 | Jimmy Mullen | England | Player-manager | 1 July 1986 | 5 March 1987 | 8 months, 5 days |
| 24 | John Lewis | Wales | Permanent / player-manager | 5 March 1987 | 7 September 1987 | 6 months, 3 days |
| 25 | Brian Eastick | England | Permanent | 7 September 1987 | 11 March 1988 | 6 months, 5 days |
| 26 | Dave Williams | Wales | Caretaker manager | 11 March 1988 | 1 August 1988 | 4 months, 22 days |
| 27 | Eddie May | England | Permanent | 1 August 1988 | 31 August 1988 | 1 month |
| 28 | John Mahoney | Wales | Permanent | 1 September 1988 | 30 June 1989 | 10 months |
| 29 | John Relish | England | Permanent / player-manager | 1 July 1989 | 30 June 1993 | 4 years |
| 30 | Graham Rogers | England | Permanent | 1 July 1993 | 30 June 1996 | 3 years |
| 31 | Chris Price | England | Permanent | 1 July 1996 | 30 June 1997 | 1 year |
| 32 | Tim Harris | England | Permanent | 1 July 1997 | 14 November 2002 | 5 years, 4 months, 14 days |
| 33 | Peter Nicholas | Wales | Permanent | 15 November 2002 | 13 September 2004 | 1 year, 9 months, 30 days |
| 34 | John Cornforth | Wales | Permanent | 29 September 2004 | 13 September 2005 | 11 months, 16 days |
| 35 | Glyn Jones | Wales | Caretaker manager | 13 September 2005 | 9 October 2005 | 27 days |
| 36 | Peter Beadle | England | Permanent | 9 October 2005 | 27 April 2008 | 2 years, 6 months, 19 days |
| 37 | Dean Holdsworth | England | Permanent | 1 June 2008 | 11 January 2011 | 2 years, 7 months, 11 days |
| 38 | Tim Harris | England | Permanent | 11 January 2011 | 1 April 2011 | 2 months, 22 days |
| 39 | Anthony Hudson | England | Permanent | 1 April 2011 | 28 September 2011 | 5 months, 28 days |
| 40 | Lee Harrison | England | Caretaker / player-manager | 29 September 2011 | 3 October 2011 | 5 days |
| 41 | Justin Edinburgh | England | Permanent | 4 October 2011 | 6 February 2015 | 3 years, 4 months, 3 days |
| 42 | Jimmy Dack | England | Permanent | 7 February 2015 | 4 May 2015 | 2 months, 28 days |
| 43 | Terry Butcher | England | Permanent | 4 May 2015 | 1 October 2015 | 4 months, 28 days |
| 44 | John Sheridan | Ireland | Permanent | 5 October 2015 | 12 January 2016 | 3 months, 8 days |
| 45 | Warren Feeney | Northern Ireland | Permanent | 13 January 2016 | 28 September 2016 | 8 months, 16 days |
| 46 | James Bittner Sean McCarthy | England Wales | Caretaker / player-manager Caretaker manager | 28 September 2016 | 7 October 2016 | 10 days |
| 47 | Graham Westley | England | Permanent | 7 October 2016 | 9 March 2017 | 5 months, 3 days |
| 48 | Michael Flynn | Wales | Caretaker (9 March – 9 May 2017) Player-manager (9 May 2017 – November 2018) Permanent (November 2018 – 1 October 2021) | 9 March 2017 | 1 October 2021 | 5 years, 7 months |
| 49 | Wayne Hatswell | England | Caretaker manager | 1 October 2021 | 19 October 2021 | 18 days |
| 50 | James Rowberry | Wales | Permanent | 19 October 2021 | 10 October 2022 | 12 months |
| 51 | Darren Kelly | Northern Ireland | Caretaker manager | 10 October 2022 | 20 October 2022 | 10 days |
| 52 | Graham Coughlan | Ireland | Permanent | 20 October 2022 | 20 June 2024 | 23 months |
| 53 | Nelson Jardim | Portugal | Permanent | 16 July 2024 | | 2 months |

## Managers with honours

| Name | Nationality | From | To | Honours |
| Justin Edinburgh | England | 4 October 2011 | 6 February 2015 | 2013 Conference Premier play-off final winners, 2012 FA Trophy Final runners-up |
| Dean Holdsworth | England | 1 June 2008 | 11 January 2011 | Conference South Champions |
| Peter Beadle | England | 9 October 2005 | 27 April 2008 | 2007–08 FAW Premier Cup winners, 2006–07 FAW Premier Cup runners-up |
| Peter Nicholas | Wales | 15 November 2002 | 13 September 2004 | 2002–03 FAW Premier Cup runners-up |
| Graham Rogers | England | 1 July 1993 | 30 June 1996 | Southern Football League, Midland Division second place promotion |
| John Relish | England | 1 July 1989 | 30 June 1993 | Hellenic League Premier Champions |
| John Lewis | Wales | 5 March 1987 | 7 September 1987 | 1986–87 Welsh Cup runners-up |
| Len Ashurst | England | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1982 | 1979–80 Football League Fourth Division third place promotion 1979–80 Welsh Cup Champions |
| Bobby Evans | Scotland | 1 July 1961 | 30 June 1962 | 1962–63 Welsh Cup runners-up |
| Billy McCandless | Ireland | 9 September 1937 | 8 April 1946 | 1938–39 Third Division South Champions |

## Hall of Fame

| Inducted date | Name | Born | Died | Nationality | Manager from | Manager to | Honours |
| 18 September 2009 | John Relish | 5 October 1953 | — | England | 1 July 1989 | 30 June 1993 | Hellenic League Premier Champions |
| 28 December 2019 | Justin Edinburgh | 18 December 1969 | 8 June 2019 (aged 49) | England | 4 October 2011 | 6 February 2015 | 2013 Conference Premier play-off final winners, 2012 FA Trophy Final runners-up |