Wales national football team manager
Since the Wales national football team's formation in 1876, it has had twelve managers. Prior to 1954, the Welsh team was chosen by a panel of selectors with the team captain fulfilling the role of coach.
The longest serving manager is Dave Bowen, who was manager for ten years before leaving in 1974. Bowen was in charge of the team for fifty-three games, winning ten. However, his win percentage of 20% is the lowest of all Wales managers. The most successful manager in terms of wins was John Toshack.
Jimmy Murphy and Chris Coleman are the only managers to have taken the team to any FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals. Murphy led his team to the 1958 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Brazil. Coleman led his team to the UEFA Euro 2016 semi-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Portugal. Under Coleman, Wales peaked at eighth in the FIFA world rankings.
List of managers
- Caretaker manager is indicated with a (c).
- BOLD names indicates that the manager has taken the team to a FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals.
- As of 24 March 2017
Name | Career | First game | Final game | Pld | Wins | Draws | Loss | Goals For |
Goals against |
Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barnes, WalleyWalley Barnes | 1954–1956 | 9 May 1954 vs Austria[1] | 11 Apr 1956 vs Northern Ireland[1] | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 22 |
Murphy, JimmyJimmy Murphy | 1956–1964 | 20 Oct 1956 vs Scotland[1] | 20 Nov 1963 vs Scotland[1] | 43 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 59 | 79 | 26 |
Morris, TrevorTrevor Morris (c) | 1964 | 15 Apr 1964 vs Northern Ireland[1] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
Bowen, DaveDave Bowen | 1964–74 | 3 Oct 1964 vs Scotland[1] | 18 May 1974 vs Northern Ireland[1] | 53 | 10 | 13 | 30 | 49 | 84 | 20 |
Smith, MikeMike Smith | 1974–1979 | 4 Sep 1974 vs Austria[1] | 21 Nov 1979 vs Turkey[1] | 40 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 49 | 39 | 38 |
England, MikeMike England | 1980–1987 | 17 Mar 1980 vs England[1] | 11 Nov 1987 vs Czechoslovakia[1] | 56 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 68 | 52 | 38 |
Williams, DavidDavid Williams (c) | 1988 | 23 Mar 1988 vs Yugoslavia[1] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
Yorath, TerryTerry Yorath | 1988–1993 | 27 Apr 1988 vs Sweden[1] | 17 Nov 1993 vs Romania[1] | 41 | 16 | 8 | 17 | 48 | 54 | 39 |
Toshack, JohnJohn Toshack | 1994 | 9 Mar 1994 vs Norway[1] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
Smith, MikeMike Smith | 1994–1995 | 20 Apr 1994 vs Sweden[1] | 6 Sep 1995 vs Moldova[1] | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 30 |
Gould, BobbyBobby Gould | 1995–1999 | 11 Oct 1995 vs Germany[1] | 5 June 1999 vs Italy[1] | 24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 32 | 47 | 29 |
Hughes, MarkMark Hughes & Southall, NevilleNeville Southall (c) |
1999 | 9 June 1999 vs Denmark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
Hughes, MarkMark Hughes | 1999–2004 | 4 Sep 1999 vs Belgium[1] | 13 Oct 2004 vs Poland[1] | 41 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 46 | 49 | 27 |
Toshack, JohnJohn Toshack | 2005–2010 | 9 Feb 2005 vs Hungary[1] | 3 Sep 2010 vs Montenegro[1] | 53 | 22 | 8 | 23 | 61 | 56 | 42 |
Flynn, BrianBrian Flynn (c) | 2010 | 8 Oct 2010 vs Bulgaria[1] | 12 Oct 2010 vs Switzerland[1] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Speed, GaryGary Speed | 2010–2011 | 8 Feb 2011 v Republic of Ireland[1] | 12 Nov 2011 v Norway[1] | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 50 |
Coleman, ChrisChris Coleman | 2011– | 29 Feb 2012 v Costa Rica[1] | 41 | 16 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 51 | 39 |
Managers at the World Cup/European Championship finals
Final | Manager | Pld | Win(s) | Draw(s)^ | Loss(s) | Goals For | Goals Against | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1958 Sweden | Murphy, JimmyJimmy Murphy | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Quarter-final |
2016 France | Coleman, ChrisChris Coleman | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | Semi-final |
^ Draws also include penalties.