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List of Sunderland A.F.C. managers

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Peter Reid, manager of Sunderland from 1995 to 2002, gained the club's highest league finish since 1955.

Sunderland Association Football Club was founded in September 1880 as Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club.[1] After turning professional in 1886, the club appointed Tom Watson as their first manager, and under Watson the team won the Football League First Division three times in four seasons.[2] The percentage of games won under Watson remains the highest of all time for a Sunderland manager. Watson left to manage Liverpool and was replaced by Robert Campbell, but the new manager failed to continue the success of his predecessor. The next three managers, Alex Mackie, Bob Kyle and Johnny Cochrane, each won the First Division title while at the club. Kyle's 817 games in charge, spread over 19 full seasons either side of the First World War, make him Sunderland's longest-serving manager.[3] Cochrane led the club to their first FA Cup victory, beating Preston North End 3–1 in the 1937 final.[4] The closest they had come in previous seasons was as losing finalists in 1913 under Kyle.[5]

After Cochrane, no manager won a trophy until Bob Stokoe led the team to their second FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Leeds United in the 1973 FA Cup Final.[6] Stokoe took Sunderland into European competition for the first time in their history, but they were knocked out in the second round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by Sporting Clube de Portugal.[7] Len Ashurst led Sunderland to their first League Cup final, which they lost 1–0 to Norwich City, but relegation brought him the sack at the end of the season.[8][9] Under Lawrie McMenemy, Sunderland were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history.[10] Following this, Denis Smith was named as manager, and saw the club back into the Second Division.[11]

Peter Reid brought Sunderland to the Premier League for the first time in their history in the 1996–97 season, but they were relegated in their debut season.[12] The team progressed as far as the Division One play-off final in 1998, drawing 4–4 after extra time before losing 7–6 on penalties,[13] and went one step further the following season, winning promotion as champions with a record total, at that time, of 105 points.[14] Still led by Reid, they went on to achieve their highest place finish in the Premier League, finishing seventh in two consecutive seasons, and narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup place.[15] In 2002–03, Sunderland had three different managers, with Reid, Howard Wilkinson and, towards the end of the season, Mick McCarthy; the club ended that season with a then record low total of 19 points.[15] Under McCarthy, a third-place finish in the Championship earned Sunderland a place in the 2003–04 play-offs, only to lose to Crystal Palace in the semi-finals;[16] in 2004–05, they were promoted as champions, clinching the title with a 2–1 win over West Ham.[17] In March 2006, McCarthy was sacked in a season where Sunderland gained just 15 points, breaking their previous record, with former player Kevin Ball taking over as caretaker manager for the remaining games.[18] Following a takeover of the club, incoming chairman Niall Quinn acted as manager until Roy Keane's appointment three weeks into the 2006–07 season.[19] Keane went on to win the Championship title in his first season of management.[20] After keeping the side in the Premier League, he resigned in December 2008 and Ricky Sbragia eventually assumed the role after a spell as caretaker.[21][22] Sbragia resigned immediately after the final match of the 2008–09 season, when Sunderland had achieved survival in the Premier League.[23] Wigan Athletic manager Steve Bruce was appointed as his successor in June 2009.[24] Having spent two-and-a-half years as manager, Bruce was sacked on 30 November 2011.[25] Martin O'Neill, a boyhood fan of the club, was appointed as manager on 3 December 2011. Sunderland's form soon took off, picking up 27 points in O'Neill's first 18 league games in charge, as well as reaching an FA Cup quarter-final. However, the team underperformed during the 2012–13 season, and on 30 March 2013, O'Neill was sacked. The following day on 31 March 2013, Paolo Di Canio was appointed on a 2+12-year contract. Di Canio was sacked less than six months later with Sunderland bottom of the Premier League.[26]

Key

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Managers

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As of 5 October 2024. Only professional, competitive matches are counted, including; League, FA Cup, League Cup and other cup competitions. Dates for earlier years are only months because of unclear statistics.
Name Nationality From To M W D L Win % Honours Notes
November 1880 August 1889 12 8 1 3 066.7 [27]
Tom Watson  England August 1889 August 1896 191 119 28 44 062.3 Football League First Division champions 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95 [28]
Robert Campbell  Scotland August 1896 April 1899 103 41 22 40 039.8 [29]
Alex Mackie  Scotland August 1899 April 1905 214 104 46 64 048.6 Football League First Division champions 1901–02, Sheriff of London Charity Shield champions 1902–03 [30]
Bob Kyle  Northern Ireland August 1905 May 1928 817 371 155 291 045.4 Football League First Division champions 1912–13 [31]
Johnny Cochrane  Scotland June 1928 March 1939 500 212 122 166 42.4 Football League First Division champions 1935–36, FA Cup winners 1936–37 [32]
March 1939 March 1939 5 2 0 3 040.0 [27]
Bill Murray  Scotland April 1939 June 1957 512 186 140 186 036.3 [33]
Alan Brown  England August 1957 July 1964 332 138 88 106 041.6 [34]
August 1964 November 1964 18 3 6 9 016.7 [27]
George Hardwick (caretaker)  England November 1964 April 1965 29 14 3 12 048.3 [35]
Ian McColl  Scotland August 1965 February 1968 124 39 27 58 031.5 [36]
Alan Brown  England February 1968 November 1972 219 63 68 88 028.8 [34]
Billy Elliott (caretaker)  England November 1972 November 1972 4 0 2 2 000.0 [37]
Bob Stokoe  England 23 November 1972 18 October 1976 197 92 49 56 046.7 FA Cup winners 1972–73, Football League Second Division champions 1975–76 [38]
Ian MacFarlane (caretaker)  Scotland 18 October 1976 1 December 1976 7 2 1 4 028.6 [39]
Jimmy Adamson  England 1 December 1976 25 October 1978 88 29 28 31 033.0 [40]
David Merrington (caretaker)  England 25 October 1978 13 December 1978 8 4 2 2 050.0 [41]
Billy Elliott  England 13 December 1978 24 May 1979 26 14 7 5 053.8 [37]
Ken Knighton  England 7 June 1979 1 April 1981 94 34 25 35 036.2 [42]
Mick Docherty (caretaker)  England 1 April 1981 1 June 1981 4 2 0 2 050.0 [43]
Alan Durban  Wales 1 June 1981 2 March 1984 130 37 40 53 028.5 [44]
Pop Robson (caretaker)  England 2 March 1984 4 March 1984 1 0 1 0 000.0 [45]
Len Ashurst  England 4 March 1984 23 May 1985 66 21 16 29 031.8 [46]
Lawrie McMenemy  England 8 June 1985 16 April 1987 90 27 24 39 030.0 [47]
Bob Stokoe (caretaker)  England 16 April 1987 9 June 1987 9 3 2 4 033.3 [38]
Denis Smith  England 9 June 1987 30 December 1991 238 91 64 83 038.2 Football League Third Division champions 1987–88 [48]
Malcolm Crosby  England 30 December 1991 28 January 1993 60 21 15 24 035.0 [49]
Terry Butcher  England 29 January 1993 26 November 1993 45 14 8 23 031.1 [50]
Mick Buxton  England 26 November 1993 29 March 1995 76 25 24 27 032.9 [51]
Peter Reid  England 29 March 1995 7 October 2002 353 159 95 99 045.0 Football League First Division champions 1995–96, 1998–99 [52]
Howard Wilkinson  England 10 October 2002 10 March 2003 27 4 8 15 014.8 [53]
Mick McCarthy  Ireland 12 March 2003 6 March 2006 147 63 26 58 042.9 Football League Championship champions 2004–05 [54]
Kevin Ball (caretaker)  England 7 March 2006 31 May 2006 10 1 2 7 010.0 [55]
Niall Quinn  Ireland 25 July 2006 30 August 2006 6 1 0 5 016.7 [56]
Roy Keane  Ireland 30 August 2006 4 December 2008 100 42 17 41 042.0 Football League Championship champions 2006–07 [57]
Ricky Sbragia  Scotland 4 December 2008 24 May 2009 26 6 7 13 023.1 [58]
Steve Bruce  England 3 June 2009 30 November 2011 98 29 28 41 029.6 [59]
Eric Black (caretaker)  Scotland 30 November 2011 3 December 2011 1 0 0 1 000.0 [60]
Martin O'Neill  Northern Ireland 3 December 2011 30 March 2013 54 19 16 19 035.2 [61]
Paolo Di Canio  Italy 31 March 2013 22 September 2013 13 3 3 7 023.1
Kevin Ball (caretaker)  England 22 September 2013 8 October 2013 3 1 0 2 033.3 [55]
Gus Poyet  Uruguay 8 October 2013 16 March 2015 75 23 22 30 030.7 [62][63]
Dick Advocaat  Netherlands 17 March 2015 4 October 2015 19 4 6 9 021.1
Sam Allardyce  England 9 October 2015 22 July 2016 31 9 9 13 029.0 [64]
David Moyes  Scotland 23 July 2016 22 May 2017 43 8 7 28 018.6 [65]
Simon Grayson  England 29 June 2017 31 October 2017 18 3 7 8 016.7 [66]
Robbie Stockdale (caretaker)
Billy McKinlay (caretaker)
 Scotland
 Scotland
31 October 2017 19 November 2017 2 0 1 1 000.0 [67]
Chris Coleman  Wales 19 November 2017 29 April 2018 29 5 8 16 017.2 [68]
Robbie Stockdale (caretaker)  Scotland 29 April 2018 25 May 2018 1 1 0 0 100.0 [67]
Jack Ross  Scotland 25 May 2018 8 October 2019 75 38 27 10 050.7 [69]
James Fowler (caretaker)  Scotland 8 October 2019 17 October 2019 0 0 0 ! [70]
Phil Parkinson  England 17 October 2019 29 November 2020 31 11 9 11 035.5 [71]
Andrew Taylor (caretaker)  England 30 November 2020 5 December 2020 1 0 1 0 000.0 [72]
Lee Johnson  England 5 December 2020 30 January 2022 78 40 20 18 051.3 EFL Trophy champions 2020-21 [73]
Mike Dodds (caretaker)  England 2 February 2022 11 February 2022 2 0 0 2 000.0 [74]
Alex Neil  Scotland 11 February 2022 28 August 2022 19 11 7 1 057.9 Football League One play-offs: 2022 [75]
Martin Canning (caretaker)  Scotland 26 August 2022 30 August 2022 1 0 0 1 000.0 [76]
Tony Mowbray  England 30 August 2022 4 December 2023 65 26 18 21 040.0 2023 Championship play-offs [77]
Mike Dodds (caretaker)  England 4 December 2023 18 December 2023 3 2 0 1 066.7 [78]
Michael Beale  England 18 December 2023 19 February 2024 12 4 2 6 033.3 [79]
Mike Dodds (caretaker)  England 19 February 2024 4 May 2024 13 2 3 8 015.4 [80]
Régis Le Bris  France 1 July 2024 present 10 6 1 3 060.0 [81]

References

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  39. ^ "Ian MacFarlane". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
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  41. ^ "David Merrington". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  42. ^ "Ken Knighton". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
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  44. ^ "Alan Durban". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
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  48. ^ "Denis Smith". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
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  52. ^ "Peter Reid". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  53. ^ "Howard Wilkinson". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
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