# List of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers

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 29 December 2024
| Name | Nationality | Bristol Rovers career | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | % won | Honours |
| Alfred Homer | England | 1899Summer 1899 – July 1920 | 652 | 243 | 148 | 261 | 37.3 | Southern League champions, 3 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Ben Hall | England | 1920July 1920 – May 1921 | 45 | 19 | 7 | 19 | 42.2 | - |
| Andrew Wilson | Scotland | 1921June 1921 – April 1926 | 230 | 74 | 64 | 92 | 32.2 | Gloucestershire Cup winner |
| Joe Palmer | England | 1926May 1926 – April 1929 | 138 | 48 | 22 | 68 | 34.8 | Gloucestershire Cup winner |
| David McLean | Scotland | 1929May 1929 – September 1930 | 58 | 16 | 12 | 30 | 27.6 | - |
| Albert Prince-Cox | England | 1930October 1930 – October 1936 | 295 | 115 | 67 | 113 | 39.0 | Division 3 South Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Percy Smith | England | 1936November 1936 – November 1937 | 52 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 32.7 | - |
| Brough Fletcher | England | 1938January 1938 – January 1950 | 227 | 80 | 49 | 98 | 35.2 | 3 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Bert Tann | England | 1950January 1950 – April 1968 | 897 | 369 | 216 | 314 | 41.1 | Division 3 South champions, Gloucestershire Cups: won 5, shared 5 |
| Fred Ford | England | 1968April 1968 – July 1969 | 70 | 26 | 16 | 28 | 37.1 | - |
| Bill Dodgin Sr. | England | 1969August 1969 – July 1972 | 163 | 72 | 47 | 44 | 44.2 | - |
| Don Megson | England | 1972July 1972 – November 1977 | 269 | 91 | 85 | 93 | 33.8 | Watney Cup winner, 2 Gloucestershire Cups, promotion to Division 2 |
| Bobby Campbell | Scotland | 1977November 1977 – December 1979 | 91 | 32 | 19 | 40 | 35.2 | - |
| Harold Jarman | England | 1979December 1979 – April 1980 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 29.2 | - |
| Terry Cooper | England | 1980April 1980 – October 1981 | 68 | 13 | 19 | 36 | 19.1 | - |
| Ron Gingell (caretaker) | England | 1981 (1)October 1981 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | - |
| Bobby Gould | England | 1981 (2)October 1981 – May 1983 May 1985 – June 1987 | 196 | 71 | 42 | 83 | 36.2 | Gloucestershire Cup winner |
| David Williams | Wales | 1983May 1983 – May 1985 | 108 | 51 | 28 | 29 | 47.2 | 2 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Gerry Francis | England | 1987July 1987 – May 1991 July 2001 – December 2001 | 240 | 95 | 72 | 73 | 39.6 | Division 3 champions, 2 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Martin Dobson | England | 1991 (1)July 1991 – October 1991 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8.3 | - |
| Dennis Rofe | England | 1991 (2)October 1991 – November 1992 | 63 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 33.3 | Gloucestershire Cup winner |
| Malcolm Allison | England | 1992November 1992 – February 1993 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 | - |
| Steve Cross (caretaker) | England | 1993 (1)March 1993 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | - |
| John Ward | England | 1993 (2)March 1993 – May 1996 December 2012 – March 2014 | 250 | 101 | 70 | 79 | 40.4 | 2 Gloucestershire Cups |
| Ian Holloway | England | 1996June 1996 – January 2001 | 249 | 92 | 67 | 90 | 36.9 | - |
| Garry Thompson | England | 2001 (1)January 2001 – May 2001 December 2001 – April 2002 | 47 | 14 | 10 | 23 | 29.8 | - |
| Phil Bater (caretaker) | Wales | 2002 (1)April 2002 January 2004 – March 2004 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 7.1 | - |
| Ray Graydon | England | 2002 (2)April 2002 – January 2004 | 81 | 22 | 22 | 37 | 27.2 | - |
| Russell Osman Kevan Broadhurst (joint caretakers) | England | 2004 (2)March 2004 – April 2004 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | - |
| Ian Atkins | England | 2004 (3)April 2004 – September 2005 | 68 | 21 | 26 | 21 | 30.9 | - |
| Paul Trollope | Wales | 2005September 2005 – December 2010 | 284 | 106 | 71 | 107 | 37.3 | League 2 play-off winner |
| Darren Patterson (caretaker) | Northern Ireland | 2010December 2010 – January 2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | |
| Dave Penney | England | 2011aJanuary 2011 – March 2011 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 15.4 | |
| Stuart Campbell (caretaker) | Scotland | 2011bMarch 2011 – May 2011 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 33.3 | |
| Paul Buckle | England | 2011cMay 2011 – January 2012 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 27.5 | |
| Mark McGhee | Scotland | 2012January 2012 – December 2012 | 45 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 26.6 | |
| Darrell Clarke | England | 2014March 2014 – December 2018 | 246 | 104 | 56 | 86 | 42.3 | Conference Premier play-off winner, promotion to League One |
| Graham Coughlan | Republic of Ireland | 2018December 2018 – December 2019 | 56 | 25 | 18 | 13 | 44.6 | |
| Joe Dunne (caretaker) | Republic of Ireland | 2019aDecember 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | |
| Kevin Maher (caretaker) | Republic of Ireland | 2019bDecember 2019 January 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Ben Garner | England | 2019cDecember 2019 – November 2020 | 33 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 18.2 | |
| Tommy Widdrington (caretaker) | England | 2020aNovember 2020 February 2021 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.6 | |
| Paul Tisdale | England | 2020bNovember 2020 – February 2021 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 26.3 | |
| Joey Barton | England | 2020bFebruary 2021 – October 2023 | 143 | 53 | 30 | 60 | 37.1 | Promotion to League One |
| Andy Mangan (caretaker) | England | 2023aOctober 2023 – November 2023 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.1 | |
| Matt Taylor | England | 2023bNovember 2023 – December 2024 | 57 | 19 | 7 | 31 | 33.3 | |
| David Horseman (caretaker) | England | 2024aDecember 2024 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | |
| Iñigo Calderón | Spain | 2024bDecember 2024 – Present | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | |