# List of Portsmouth F.C. managers

Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Milton, Portsmouth, in Hampshire, England. The club was formed at 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth on 5 April 1898 as Portsmouth Football and Athletic Company and was elected to the Southern League Division 1 for the 1899-1900 season and finished runners-up in their first season.
Portsmouth Football Club have had 41 permanent managers and 10 caretaker managers in their history. The first manager was Frank Brettell who joined Portsmouth from Tottenham Hotspur in February 1899. The longest serving manager was Jack Tinn with 20 years from 1927 to 1947. The shortest serving permanent manager was Velimir Zajec at 4 months and 14 days. The most successful manager was Bob Jackson, winning two back to back First Division titles in 1948-49 and 1949-50 and a Charity Shield (shared) in 1949. Most recent success was with current manager John Mousinho, winning the League One title in 2024.
Bob Blyth, Ron Tindall, Jimmy Dickinson, Bobby Campbell, Guy Whittingham, and Andy Awford have all played for Portsmouth at one point and later would go on to manage the club as well. From 12 October 2000 to 25 February 2001 Steve Claridge was player-manager.

## Full Managers List and Statistics

Information and statistics correct as of 15 March 2025. Only competitive matches are counted.

### Table headers

* Nationality – If the manager played international football as a player, the country/countries he played for are shown. Otherwise, the manager's nationality is given as their country of birth.
* From – The date of the start of the manager's tenure for Portsmouth.
* To – The date of the end of the manager's tenure for Portsmouth.
* P – The number of games managed for Portsmouth.
* W – The number of games won as a manager.
* D – The number of games drawn as a manager.
* L – The number of games lost as a manager.
* Win% – The total winning percentage under his management rounded to two decimal places.
* Honours – The trophies won while managing Portsmouth.

### Key

* (n/a) = Information not available
* $^p$ = Player-manager
List of Portsmouth F.C. managers :
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win% | Honours |
| Frank Brettell | England | February 1899 | May 1901 | 88 | 56 | 9 | 23 | 063.64 | |
| Bob Blyth | Scotland | August 1901 | May 1904 | 142 | 84 | 29 | 29 | 059.15 | |
| Richard Bonney | England | August 1904 | May 1908 | 206 | 99 | 39 | 68 | 048.06 | |
| Robert Brown | England | August 1911 | May 1920 | 220 | 100 | 48 | 72 | 045.45 | |
| John McCartney | Scotland | May 1920 | May 1927 | 308 | 129 | 93 | 86 | 041.88 | 1 Third Division (tier 3) champions: 1923-24, 1 Second Division (tier 2) runners-up: 1926-27 |
| Jack Tinn | England | May 1927 | May 1947 | 586 | 229 | 131 | 226 | 039.08 | 1 FA Cup winners: 1938–39, 2 FA Cup runners-up: 1928–29, 1933–34 |
| Bob Jackson | England | May 1947 | June 1952 | 234 | 114 | 51 | 69 | 048.72 | 99972 First Division (tier 1) champions: 1948-49, 1949-50, 1 Charity Shield (shared):1949 |
| Eddie Lever | England | August 1952 | April 1958 | 261 | 88 | 67 | 106 | 033.72 | |
| Freddie Cox | England | August 1958 | February 1961 | 120 | 28 | 29 | 63 | 023.33 | |
| George Smith | England | April 1961 | April 1970 | 430 | 157 | 112 | 161 | 036.51 | 1 Third Division (tier 3) champions: 1961-62 |
| Ron Tindall | England | 1 April 1970 | 10 May 1973 | 143 | 41 | 41 | 61 | 028.67 | |
| John Mortimore | England | 10 May 1973 | 6 September 1974 | 54 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 033.33 | |
| Ian St. John | Scotland | 13 September 1974 | 4 May 1977 | 138 | 35 | 38 | 65 | 025.36 | |
| Jimmy Dickinson | England | 4 May 1977 | 1 May 1979 | 103 | 31 | 32 | 40 | 030.10 | |
| Frank Burrows | Scotland | 1 May 1979 | 1 May 1982 | 159 | 67 | 47 | 45 | 042.14 | |
| Bobby Campbell | England | 21 May 1982 | 11 May 1984 | 98 | 43 | 20 | 35 | 043.88 | 1 Third Division (tier 3) champions: 1982-83 |
| Alan Ball | England | 11 May 1984 | 17 January 1989 | 222 | 94 | 58 | 70 | 042.34 | 1 Second Division (tier 2) runners-up: 1986-87 |
| John Gregory | England | 17 January 1989 | 3 January 1990 | 50 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 020.00 | |
| Frank Burrows | Scotland | 23 January 1990 | 13 March 1991 | 60 | 20 | 17 | 23 | 033.33 | |
| Jim Smith | England | 1 June 1991 | 2 February 1995 | 200 | 82 | 54 | 64 | 041.00 | |
| Terry Fenwick | England | 2 February 1995 | 13 January 1998 | 131 | 43 | 29 | 59 | 032.82 | |
| Alan Ball | England | 26 January 1998 | 9 December 1999 | 97 | 28 | 26 | 43 | 028.87 | |
| Tony Pulis | Wales | 13 January 2000 | 12 October 2000 | 35 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 031.43 | |
| Steve Claridge$^p$ | England | 12 October 2000 | 25 February 2001 | 23 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 021.74 | |
| Graham Rix | England | 25 February 2001 | 25 March 2002 | 56 | 16 | 17 | 23 | 028.57 | |
| Harry Redknapp | England | 25 March 2002 | 24 November 2004 | 116 | 54 | 26 | 36 | 046.55 | 1 First Division (tier 2) champions: 2002-03 |
| Velimir Zajec | Croatia | 24 November 2004 | 7 April 2005 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 023.81 | |
| Alain Perrin | France | 7 April 2005 | 24 November 2005 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 019.05 | |
| Harry Redknapp | England | 7 December 2005 | 25 October 2008 | 127 | 54 | 28 | 45 | 042.52 | 1 FA Cup winners: 2007–08, 1 FA Cup runners-up: 2009–10, 1 FA Community Shield runners up: 2008 |
| Tony Adams | England | 25 October 2008 | 9 February 2009 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 018.18 | |
| Paul Hart | England | 9 February 2009 | 24 November 2009 | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 030.00 | |
| Avram Grant | Israel | 26 November 2009 | 21 May 2010 | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 030.30 | |
| Steve Cotterill | England | 14 June 2010 | 14 October 2011 | 61 | 18 | 17 | 26 | 029.51 | |
| Michael Appleton | England | 10 November 2011 | 7 November 2012 | 51 | 13 | 11 | 27 | 025.49 | |
| Guy Whittingham | England | 7 November 2012 | 25 November 2013 | 51 | 11 | 15 | 25 | 021.57 | |
| Richie Barker | England | 9 December 2013 | 27 March 2014 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 020.00 | |
| Andy Awford | England | 27 March 2014 | 13 April 2015 | 55 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 036.36 | |
| Paul Cook | England | 12 May 2015 | 31 May 2017 | 107 | 52 | 27 | 28 | 048.60 | 1 League Two (tier 4) champions: 2016-17 |
| Kenny Jackett | Wales | 2 June 2017 | 14 March 2021 | 211 | 107 | 44 | 60 | 050.71 | 1 EFL Trophy winners: 2018–19, 1 EFL Trophy runners-up: 2019–20 |
| Danny Cowley | England | 19 March 2021 | 2 January 2023 | 97 | 42 | 27 | 28 | 043.30 | |
| John Mousinho | England | 20 January 2023 | Present | 116 | 52 | 33 | 31 | 044.83 | 1 League One (tier 3) champions: 2023-24 |

### Caretaker managers

    Figures correct as of 20 January 2023
    Includes all competitive matches.
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % |
| Ron Tindall | England | 6 September 1974 | 13 September 1974 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Tony Barton | England | March 1991 | May 1991 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 41.67 |
| Keith Waldon | England | 13 January 1998 | 26 January 1998 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Bob McNab | England | 9 December 1999 | 13 January 2000 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Joe Jordan | Scotland | 24 November 2005 | 7 December 2005 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Stuart Gray | England | October 2011 | November 2011 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Andy Awford | England | 25 November 2013 | 9 December 2013 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Gary Waddock | England | 13 April 2015 | 12 May 2015 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.00 |
| Joe Gallen | England | 14 March 2021 | 18 March 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Simon Bassey | England | 3 January 2023 | 20 January 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |