# List of West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers

The following is a list of West Bromwich Albion managers from the founding of West Bromwich Albion F.C. in 1878 until the present. It includes both those who have been in permanent charge as well as caretaker managers.
All managers prior to 1948 were given the title secretary-manager, and dates for appointment of these should be taken only as approximate, although the years should be correct. The first secretary-manager was Louis Ford in 1890. Fred Everiss served as Albion's secretary-manager during 1902–1948, his 46 years in the post constituting a league record. A high turnover of managers at the club since then has meant that no-one has come close to this length of service, with 28 full-time managers having been appointed in the period 1948–2006.
The full-time post of manager was created in 1948, with Jack Smith the first to take up the position. Albion's longest serving full-time manager was Vic Buckingham, who led the club for six years and in 1953–54 guided the club to victory in the FA Cup and a runners-up spot in the league.
From the 2009–10 season the title of manager was changed to head coach.

## Managers and head coaches

Only competitive matches are counted. As of 13th April 2024.
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % | Honours |
| Louis Ford | England | 1 August 1890 | 31 May 1892 | 58 | 18 | 10 | 30 | 031.03 | see below |
| Henry Jackson | England | 1 August 1892 | 31 May 1894 | 62 | 26 | 9 | 27 | 041.94 | |
| Edward Stephenson | England | 1 August 1894 | 31 May 1895 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 038.89 | see below |
| Clement Keys | England | 1 August 1895 | 31 May 1896 | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 026.32 | |
| Frank Heaven | England | 1 August 1896 | 1 August 1902 | 214 | 86 | 45 | 83 | 040.19 | see below |
| Fred Everiss | England | 1 August 1902 | 31 May 1948 | 1,520 | 656 | 331 | 533 | 043.16 | see below |
| Jack Smith | Wales | 1 July 1948 | 30 April 1952 | 179 | 70 | 46 | 63 | 039.11 | see below |
| Jesse Carver | England | 1 May 1952 | 1 February 1953 | 29 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 055.17 | |
| Vic Buckingham | England | 1 February 1953 | 31 May 1959 | 301 | 130 | 78 | 93 | 043.19 | see below |
| Gordon Clark | England | 1 June 1959 | 1 October 1961 | 99 | 42 | 18 | 39 | 042.42 | |
| Archie Macaulay | Scotland | 1 October 1961 | 1 April 1963 | 67 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 038.81 | |
| Jimmy Hagan | England | 1 April 1963 | 31 May 1967 | 201 | 78 | 49 | 74 | 038.81 | see below |
| Alan Ashman | England | 1 June 1967 | 1 June 1971 | 182 | 64 | 49 | 69 | 035.16 | see below |
| Don Howe | England | 8 July 1971 | 7 April 1975 | 165 | 52 | 46 | 67 | 031.52 | |
| Brian Whitehouse | England | 7 April 1975 | 14 June 1975 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 066.67 | |
| Johnny Giles (1st spell) | Ireland | 5 July 1975 | 21 May 1977 | 85 | 36 | 27 | 22 | 042.35 | |
| Ronnie Allen (1st spell) | England | 21 June 1977 | 22 December 1977 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 050.00 | |
| John Wile | England | 23 December 1977 | 11 January 1978 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 025.00 | |
| Ron Atkinson (1st spell) | England | 12 January 1978 | 9 June 1981 | 159 | 70 | 53 | 36 | 044.03 | |
| Ronnie Allen (2nd spell) | England | 1 July 1981 | 1 May 1982 | 58 | 19 | 15 | 24 | 032.76 | |
| Ron Wylie | Scotland | 27 July 1982 | 13 February 1984 | 69 | 24 | 16 | 29 | 034.78 | |
| Johnny Giles (2nd spell) | Ireland | 14 February 1984 | 29 September 1985 | 74 | 24 | 15 | 35 | 032.43 | |
| Nobby Stiles | England | 29 September 1985 | 1 February 1986 | 21 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 014.29 | |
| Ron Saunders | England | 14 February 1986 | 2 September 1987 | 64 | 14 | 19 | 31 | 021.88 | |
| Ron Atkinson (2nd spell) | England | 3 September 1987 | 12 October 1988 | 53 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 028.30 | |
| Brian Talbot | England | 13 October 1988 | 1 November 1988 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Brian Talbot | England | 2 November 1988 | 8 January 1991 | 114 | 34 | 39 | 41 | 029.82 | |
| Stuart Pearson | England | 9 January 1991 | 25 February 1991 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 033.33 | |
| Bobby Gould | England | 25 February 1991 | 5 May 1992 | 66 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 033.33 | |
| Osvaldo Ardiles | Argentina | 8 May 1992 | 19 June 1993 | 55 | 30 | 11 | 14 | 054.55 | see below |
| Keith Burkinshaw | England | 19 June 1993 | 17 October 1994 | 64 | 15 | 19 | 30 | 023.44 | |
| Alan Buckley | England | 20 October 1994 | 22 January 1997 | 118 | 39 | 34 | 45 | 033.05 | |
| Arthur Mann | Scotland | 21 January 1997 | 5 February 1997 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 033.33 | |
| Ray Harford | England | 6 February 1997 | 4 December 1997 | 40 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 047.50 | |
| Richie Barker | England | 5 December 1997 | 12 December 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| John Trewick | England | 13 December 1997 | 23 December 1997 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.00 | |
| Denis Smith | England | 24 December 1997 | 27 July 1999 | error | 22 | 20 | 31 | 029.73 | |
| Cyrille Regis & John Gorman | England Scotland | 28 July 1999 | 2 August 1999 | – | – | – | – | n/a | |
| Brian Little | England | 3 August 1999 | 6 March 2000 | 41 | 8 | 18 | 15 | 019.51 | |
| Cyrille Regis & Allan Evans | England Scotland | 7 March 2000 | 8 March 2000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Gary Megson (1st spell) | England | 9 March 2000 | 26 October 2004 | 221 | 94 | 50 | 77 | 042.53 | see below |
| Frank Burrows | Scotland | 27 October 2004 | 8 November 2004 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 000.00 | |
| Bryan Robson | England | 9 November 2004 | 18 September 2006 | 81 | 19 | 24 | 38 | 023.46 | |
| Nigel Pearson | England | 19 September 2006 | 17 October 2006 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 075.00 | |
| Craig Shakespeare | England | 17 October 2006 | 17 October 2006 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Tony Mowbray | England | 18 October 2006 | 16 June 2009 | 140 | 57 | 32 | 51 | 040.71 | see below |
| Roberto Di Matteo | Italy | 30 June 2009 | 6 February 2011 | 82 | 40 | 19 | 23 | 048.78 | see below |
| Michael Appleton | England | 6 February 2011 | 14 February 2011 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 000.00 | |
| Roy Hodgson | England | 14 February 2011 | 1 May 2012 | 54 | 20 | 13 | 21 | 037.04 | |
| Steve Clarke | Scotland | 12 June 2012 | 14 December 2013 | 60 | 19 | 15 | 26 | 031.67 | |
| Keith Downing | England | 14 December 2013 | 11 January 2014 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 016.67 | |
| Pepe Mel | Spain | 9 January 2014 | 12 May 2014 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 017.65 | |
| Alan Irvine | Scotland | 14 June 2014 | 29 December 2014 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 022.73 | |
| Rob Kelly | England | 29 December 2014 | 1 January 2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 000.00 | |
| Tony Pulis | Wales | 1 January 2015 | 20 November 2017 | 121 | 36 | 36 | 49 | 029.75 | |
| Gary Megson (2nd spell) | England | 20 November 2017 | 29 November 2017 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 000.00 | |
| Alan Pardew | England | 29 November 2017 | 2 April 2018 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 014.29 | |
| Darren Moore | Jamaica | 2 April 2018 | 9 March 2019 | 48 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 047.92 | |
| Jimmy Shan | England | 10 March 2019 | 13 June 2019 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 058.33 | |
| Slaven Bilić | Croatia | 13 June 2019 | 16 December 2020 | 65 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 040.00 | see below |
| Sam Allardyce | England | 16 December 2020 | 23 May 2021 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 015.38 | |
| Valérien Ismaël | France | 24 June 2021 | 2 February 2022 | 31 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 038.71 | |
| Steve Bruce | England | 3 February 2022 | 10 October 2022 | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 025.00 | |
| Richard Beale | England | 10 October 2022 | 24 October 2022 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 033.33 | |
| Carlos Corberán | Spain | 25 October 2022 | 24th December 2024 | 107 | 47 | 29 | 31 | 043.93 | |
| Tony Mowbray (2nd Spell) | England | 17 January 2025 | Current | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 050.00 |

### Combined record as manager

| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % |
| Johnny Giles | Ireland | 5 July 1975 | 21 May 1977 | 85 | 36 | 27 | 22 | 042.35 |
| Johnny Giles | Ireland | 14 February 1984 | 29 September 1985 | 74 | 24 | 15 | 35 | 032.43 |
| Johnny Giles | Ireland | Full Total | Full Total | 159 | 60 | 42 | 57 | 037.74 |
| Ronnie Allen | England | 21 June 1977 | 22 December 1977 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 050.00 |
| Ronnie Allen | England | 1 July 1981 | 1 May 1982 | 58 | 19 | 15 | 24 | 032.76 |
| Ronnie Allen | England | Full Total | Full Total | 80 | 30 | 22 | 28 | 037.50 |
| Ron Atkinson | England | 12 January 1978 | 9 June 1981 | 159 | 70 | 53 | 36 | 044.03 |
| Ron Atkinson | England | 3 September 1987 | 12 October 1988 | 53 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 028.30 |
| Ron Atkinson | England | Full Total | Full Total | 212 | 85 | 68 | 59 | 040.09 |
| Brian Talbot | England | 13 October 1988 | 1 November 1988 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Brian Talbot | England | 2 November 1988 | 8 January 1991 | 114 | 34 | 39 | 41 | 029.82 |
| Brian Talbot | England | Full Total | Full Total | 118 | 38 | 39 | 41 | 032.20 |
| Gary Megson | England | 9 March 2000 | 26 October 2004 | 221 | 94 | 50 | 77 | 042.53 |
| Gary Megson | England | 20 November 2017 | 29 November 2017 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 000.00 |
| Gary Megson | England | Full Total | Full Total | 223 | 94 | 52 | 77 | 042.15 |

## Managers with honours

| Name | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure | Honours |
| Louis Ford | England | 1890 | 1892 | 1892 FA Cup |
| Edward Stephenson | England | 1894 | 1895 | 1895 FA Cup runners-up |
| Frank Heaven | England | 1896 | 1902 | Div 2 winners 1901–02 |
| Fred Everiss | England | 1902 | 1948 | Div 2 winners 1910–11 1912 FA Cup runners-up Div 1 winners 1919–20 1920 FA Charity Shield Div 1 runners-up 1924–25 1931 FA Cup Div 2 runners-up 1930–31 1931 FA Charity Shield runners-up 1935 FA Cup runners-up |
| Jack Smith | Wales | 1948 | 1952 | Div 2 runners-up 1948–49 |
| Vic Buckingham | England | 1953 | 1959 | Div 1 runners-up 1953–54 1954 FA Cup 1954 FA Charity Shield shared |
| Jimmy Hagan | England | 1963 | 1967 | 1966 League Cup 1967 League Cup runners-up |
| Alan Ashman | England | 1967 | 1971 | 1968 FA Cup 1968 FA Charity Shield runners-up 1970 League Cup runners-up |
| Osvaldo Ardiles | Argentina | 1992 | 1993 | 1993 Div 2 play-off winners |
| Gary Megson | England | 2000 | 2004 | Div 1 runners-up 2001–02 Div 1 runners-up 2003–04 |
| Tony Mowbray | England | 2006 | 2009 | 2007 Championship play-off runners-up Championship winners 2007–08 |
| Roberto Di Matteo | Italy | 2009 | 2011 | Championship runners up 2009–10 |
| Slaven Bilić | Croatia | 2019 | 2020 | Championship runners up 2019–20 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Ronnie Allen, Ron Atkinson and Johnny Giles all served as manager during two separate spells at Albion, thus are each counted twice in this total.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Secretary-manager
* ↑ Longest serving manager or secretary-manager
* ↑ First dedicated, full-time manager
* ↑ Longest serving full-time manager
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Caretaker manager(s)
* ↑ Robson pp. 26–27
* 1 2 3 4 Player-manager
* ↑ Matthews (2005) p. 257
* ↑ Matthews (2007) p. 332
* ↑ Moore, David (24 December 1997). "Football: Albion job for Smith". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
* ↑ "Denis Smith". League Managers Association. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
* ↑ "West Bromwich Albion 1997–1998: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016. "West Bromwich Albion 1998–1999: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
* 1 2 "Gary Megson's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
* ↑ "Frank Burrows's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
* ↑ "Bryan Robson's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
* ↑ "Nigel Pearson's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
* ↑ "Crystal Palace 0-2 West Brom". BBC Sport. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
* ↑ "Tony Mowbray's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
* ↑ "Roberto Di Matteo's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
* ↑ Di Matteo's role is head coach, not manager.
* ↑ "Michael Appleton's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
* ↑ "Roy Hodgson's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Steve Clarke's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Keith Downing's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Pepe Mel's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Alan Irvine's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Rob Kelly's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Tony Pulis' managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
* ↑ "Alan Pardew's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
* ↑ "Darren Moore's managerial career". soccerbase.com. Racing Post. Retrieved 15 April 2019.