List of Arsenal F.C. managers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of Arsenal Football Club's managers and their records, from 1897, when the first professional manager was appointed, to the present day.

Contents

[edit] History

For more details on this topic, see History of Arsenal F.C. (1886–1966) and History of Arsenal F.C. (1966–present).
George Morrell, Arsenal's fifth manager, who was in charge between 1908 and 1915.
George Morrell, Arsenal's fifth manager, who was in charge between 1908 and 1915.

Although the club was founded in 1886, it wasn't until 1897 did the club appoint a permanent manager in charge of first-team affairs, with Thomas Mitchell being universally recognised as Arsenal's first professional manager.[1][2][3][4] While Sam Hollis is credited by some sources as being Arsenal's first "manager" (in an amateur capacity) three years earlier in 1894,[1] others claim he was only the club's trainer.[5] and many sources, including the club's own official history, make no mention of Hollis and state that Mitchell was Arsenal's first manager.[2][3][4]

The role was known originally as "secretary-manager", as the manager also managed the club's affairs off the pitch as well as on it.[1] However following the death of Tom Whittaker in 1956, the role was split and all in the role, from then to this day, have been given the title of manager and concentrated mainly on first-team affairs.[6]

[edit] Records

Arsène Wenger, manager of Arsenal since 1996.
Arsène Wenger, manager of Arsenal since 1996.

There have been eighteen permanent and four caretaker managers of Arsenal since 1897; one caretaker (Stewart Houston) has managed the club in two separate spells. The longest-running manager in terms of time is George Allison (1934–1947) while the longest-running in terms of games is current manager Arsène Wenger (1996–). Wenger is also Arsenal's only manager from outside Great Britain or Ireland and is Arsenal's most successful permanent manager in terms of percentage of wins with 57.36%, while Leslie Knighton is Arsenal's least successful (34.46%). Two Arsenal managers have died in the job - Herbert Chapman and Tom Whittaker.

[edit] Managers

As of May 11, 2008. Only competitive matches are counted. Wins, losses and draws are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shoot-outs are not counted.[7]

Name Nat From To Record Honours
P W D L F A %W
Thomas Mitchell Flag of Scotland August 1897 March 1898 26 14 4 8 66 46 53.85
George Elcoat Flag of England March 1898 May 1899 43 23 6 14 92 55 53.49
Harry Bradshaw Flag of England August 1899 May 1904 189 96 39 54 329 173 50.79
Phil Kelso Flag of Scotland July 1904 February 1908 151 63 31 57 225 228 41.27
George Morrell Flag of Scotland February 1908 19 April 1915[8] 293 103 73 117 358 412 35.15
James McEwen*[A] Flag of England 19 April 1915 c. 10 April 1919[9] 1 1 0 0 7 0 100.0
Leslie Knighton Flag of England c. 10 April 1919[9] 16 May 1925[10] 268 92 62 114 330 380 34.46
Herbert Chapman Flag of England 11 June 1925[11] 6 January 1934 403 201 97 105 864 598 49.88 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup
Joe Shaw*[B] Flag of England 6 January 1934 28 May 1934[12] 23 14 3 6 44 29 60.87 1 First Division Championship
George Allison Flag of England 28 May 1934[12] 31 May 1947[13] 279 129 74 76 534 327 46.24 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup
Tom Whittaker[C] Flag of England 2 June 1947[13] 24 October 1956 429 202 106 121 798 568 47.09 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup
Jack Crayston† Flag of England 24 October 1956 19 May 1958[14] 77 33 16 28 142 142 42.86
George Swindin Flag of England 21 June 1958[15] 1 May 1962[16] 179 70 43 66 320 320 39.11
Billy Wright Flag of England 1 May 1962[16] June 13, 1966[17] 182 70 43 69 336 330 38.46
Bertie Mee† Flag of England June 20, 1966[18] 4 May 1976 539 241 148 150 739 542 44.71 1 First Division Championship, 1 FA Cup, 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Terry Neill Flag of Northern Ireland 9 July 1976[15] 16 December 1983[15] 416 187 117 112 601 446 44.95 1 FA Cup
Don Howe† Flag of England 16 December 1983 22 March 1986[19] 117 54 32 31 187 143 46.15
Steve Burtenshaw* Flag of England 23 March 1986[19] 14 May 1986[15] 11 3 2 6 7 15 27.27
George Graham Flag of Scotland 14 May 1986[15] 21 February 1995[20] 460 225 133 102 711 403 48.91 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cups, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Stewart Houston* Flag of Scotland 21 February 1995[20] 15 June 1995[15] 19 7 3 9 29 25 36.84
Bruce Rioch Flag of Scotland 15 June 1995[15] 12 August 1996[21] 47 22 15 10 67 37 46.81
Stewart Houston* Flag of Scotland 12 August 1996[21] 13 September 1996[22] 6 2 2 2 11 10 33.33
Pat Rice* Flag of Northern Ireland 13 September 1996[22] 30 September 1996[23] 4 3 0 1 10 4 75.00
Arsène Wenger[D] Flag of France 1 October 1996[23] Present 673 386 169 118 1216 612 57.36 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups
Key
* Served as caretaker manager.
† Served as caretaker manager before being appointed permanently.
Notes
A ^ Though not officially named secretary-manager, McEwen was in charge of first team-affairs at Arsenal and thus de facto manager after Morrell left the club; the vast majority of his time he oversaw wartime matches, which do not count to the official record.[24]
B ^ Joe Shaw was appointed caretaker manager, while John Peters was appointed caretaker secretary.[25]
C ^ Whittaker was taken ill in the summer of 1956, and although he officially remained in charge at the start of the 1956-57 season, in practice Jack Crayston was team manager from then up until Whittaker's death in October; his record for this time reads P14 W7 D1 L6 F31 A25.
D ^ Wenger's statistics include the FA Cup match played against Sheffield United on February 13, 1999; Arsenal won 2–1 but the match was replayed following a controversy about the winning goal.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Arsenal Managers. Arsenal.com.
  2. ^ a b Roper, Alan (2004). The Real Arsenal Story: In the Days of Gog. Wherry, p. 120. ISBN 0-9546259-1-9. “After their humiliating defeat the Arsenal FC directors decided to appoint their first professional manager, and the first to be signed as Thomas Brown Mitchell, a Scot.” 
  3. ^ a b Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2005). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn, p. 30. ISBN 0-600613-44-5. “A disastrous FA Cup defeat by non-League Millwall (2-4 away) on 16 January 1896 proved one turning point for the committee. They decided to appoint a secretary-manager, one T.B. Mitchell from Blackburn,...” 
  4. ^ a b Joy (1952). Forward Arsenal!, p. 12. “The first manager was T.B. Mitchell, from Blackburn Rovers and he was succeeded after a few months by G. Elcoat of Stockton.” 
  5. ^ Joy, Bernard (1952). Forward Arsenal!. Phoenix House, p.11. “Arsenal's trainer, Hollis, however, was true to the nineteeth century pattern.” 
  6. ^ Arsenal: The History.
  7. ^ Arsenal results database.
  8. ^ Biography of Sir Henry Norris - 1919.
  9. ^ a b Biography of Sir Henry Norris - 1919.
  10. ^ Davis, Sally. Biography of Sir Henry Norris - 1925.
  11. ^ Davis, Sally. Biography of Sir Henry Norris - 1925 (2).
  12. ^ a b Arsenal Handbook 1934-35, p.10. 
  13. ^ a b Whittaker, Tom. Tom Whittaker's Arsenal Story, p.185. 
  14. ^ "Arsenal Manager Leaving Club", The Times, May 20, 1958, p. 15. 
  15. ^ a b c d e f g On this day in.... Arsenal.com.
  16. ^ a b "Wright to manage Arsenal", The Times, March 17, 1962, p. 3. 
  17. ^ "Wright gives up managership of Arsenal", The Times, June 14, 1966, p. 6. 
  18. ^ "Mee made Arsenal acting manager", The Times, June 21, 1966, p. 5. 
  19. ^ a b Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2005). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn, p.135. ISBN 0-600613-44-5. “On 22 March 1986, after a 3-0 win over Coventry Don Howe resigned...” 
  20. ^ a b Soar & Tyler. The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal, p.163. “...the Arsenal board felt justified in their decision to dismiss him [Graham] on 21 February.” 
  21. ^ a b ArseWEB summer rumour machine 1996. Arseweb.
  22. ^ a b Soar & Tyler. The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal, p.167. “Three days later (Friday the 13th) Stewart Houston resigned.” 
  23. ^ a b Clarke, Richard (2006). Wenger 1996 to 2006: the French evolutionary. Arsenal.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-08.
  24. ^ Joy, Bernard (1952). Forward Arsenal!. Phoenix House, p.26. 
  25. ^ Arsenal handbook 1934-35. Arsenal FC, p.6. 
Arsenal Football Club
v • d • e
Arsenal F.C. | Players | Managers | Seasons | Club records
History: 1886 to 1966 | 1966 to present
Arsenal Reserves | Arsenal Academy | Arsenal Ladies
Manor Ground | Invicta Ground | Highbury | Emirates Stadium
Arsenal TV | North London derby | Chelsea rivalry | All articles