List of Everton F.C. managers

Everton F.C. is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club was founded in 1878, but did not participate in competitive football until 1887, when they first took part in the FA Cup. The club has had 26 permanent managers, though this role was previously filled by the club secretary.

William Edward Barclay was the club secretary for Everton's first season in the newly founded Football League but was replaced the following season by Dick Molyneux. Molyneux brought the first title to the club, winning the First Division in the 1890–91 season. He managed the club for eleven seasons before being replaced in 1901 by William C. Cuff who brought further success in the shape of another League title in the 1914–15 season and the club's first FA Cup, a 1–0 victory over Newcastle United at Crystal Palace. Between the First and Second World Wars, the club enjoyed its first prolonged period of success under the guidance of Thomas H. McIntosh. Despite relegation to the Second Division in the 1928–29 season, he led the team to back-to-back Second and First Division championships in 1931 and 1932, the 1933 FA Cup and two successful appearances in the Charity Shield. A fifth league title was secured in 1938–39 while the club was run by committee, while in 1939 Theo Kelly was appointed as the club's first manager after the succession of secretaries and senior coaches who were responsible for team selection.[1][2]

With the pre-War team dispersed, the club struggled to reassert its dominance in the late 1940s and eventually suffered relegation to the Second Division under Cliff Britton in the 1950–51 season. After finishing second in the 1953–54 season, the club returned to the top tier of English football, the level at which they have played ever since. In 1961, the club appointed Harry Catterick as manager who led the club to the league title again in both the 1962–63 and 1969–70 seasons, with the league successes punctuated by another FA Cup triumph, this time a 3–2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley.

The club failed to achieve further league or cup success until the appointment of former Everton player Howard Kendall in 1981. Kendall initially proved unpopular with the Goodison Park crowd, but this was not to last as he led Everton to their most successful season ever winning the European Cup Winners' Cup and the First Division in the 1984–85 season.[3] Following success in the Charity Shield twice and another League championship in 1986–87, Kendall resigned from Everton to manage Spanish side Athletic Bilbao. He returned for two further spells during the 1990s (1990–1993 & 1997–1998) but without such success. Former Everton player and Oldham Athletic manager Joe Royle was appointed in 1994 following the disastrous reign of Mike Walker (1994 for 10 months) winning the FA Cup in the same season. Injury crises and players such as Andrei Kanchelskis being sold led to Royle's resignation in March 1997.[4] Former Rangers manager, Walter Smith, took the position in August 1998, but he failed to transfer the success he had achieved in Scotland. With three bottom-half finishes in his first three seasons, and facing relegation in the 2001–02 season, Smith was sacked. He was replaced by fellow Scot David Moyes who led the club back into European football, finishing fifth in the 2006–07 season. Under Moyes's 11-year managership, the club prospered, qualifying for the Champions League in 2005 and reaching the FA Cup final in 2009. However, the long-awaited trophy that his leadership deserved eluded him. Having stalled on contract renewal discussions, and following the announcement of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement as manager of Manchester United at the end of the 2013 season, Moyes succeeded him at Old Trafford.

Moyes's replacement was Roberto Martínez, the club's first manager from outside Britain and Ireland. After three seasons, the last of which saw Everton return their worst home record in the club's 138-year history, Martínez was sacked in May 2016 and replaced by Ronald Koeman a month later. Koeman was sacked in October 2017 after 16 months in the job following a 5–2 defeat to Arsenal that had dropped the club into the relegation zone.[5] Sam Allardyce was named as Koeman's permanent replacement in November 2017.[6] He was replaced at the end of 2017–18 by Marco Silva after finishing in 8th[7] Silva was sacked in December 2019 following a 5–2 defeat to Liverpool,[8] with Duncan Ferguson taking over as interim manager until the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti on 21 December 2019.[9] Ancelotti would depart the club at the end of the 2020–21 season, returning to coach Real Madrid.[10] On 30 June 2021, Rafael Benítez was named as Ancelotti's successor.[11] He himself would be relieved of his duties on 16 January 2022 following a defeat to Norwich City which left Everton in 15th in the league.[12][13] Benítez's six-and-a-half month tenure meant that he was the shortest-serving permanent manager in Everton's history.[14] He was replaced temporarily with Duncan Ferguson as caretaker manager again that same day, playing and losing one game against Aston Villa, before being replaced by Frank Lampard on 31 January 2022.[15] Lampard just about kept Everton up, but after a very below-par first half of the following season, alongside unrest from fans against the board, he was sacked on 23 January 2023 with the Toffeemen sitting bottom alongside Southampton with only 15 points, and he was replaced by Sean Dyche a week later on 30 January 2023.[16][17]

Managers

As of match played 27 April 2024. Only professional, competitive matches are counted.
Table of Everton F.C. managers, including tenure, record and honours
ManagerNationalityFromToGamesWDLWin %Honours[18]Notes
William Edward Barclay IrelandAugust 1888May 1889229211040.91[19]
Dick Molyneux  EnglandAugust 1889May 190138619464128050.26 1 Division One title [20]
Will Cuff  EnglandAugust 1901May 1918577275110192047.66 1 Division One title,
1 FA Cup
[21]
W.J. Sawyer  EnglandAugust 1918May 19190000![22][23]
Thomas H. McIntosh  EnglandAugust 1919May 1935719286179254039.78 2 Division One championships,
1 Division Two championship,
1 FA Cup,
2 Charity Shields
[24]
CommitteesMay 1935June 1939180763668042.22 1 Division One championship [25]
Theo Kelly  EnglandJune 19391 September 1948100381943038.00[25]
Cliff Britton  England1 September 19481 February 195634412592127036.34[26]
Ian Buchan  Scotland1 February 19561 October 1958116382454032.76[27]
Johnny Carey  Ireland25 October 195815 April 1961122512249041.80[28]
Harry Catterick  England22 April 19617 April 1973594276157161046.46 2 Division One championships,
1 FA Cup,
2 Charity Shields
[29]
Tom Eggleston*  England12 April 197328 May 19736123016.67[30][31]
Billy Bingham  Northern Ireland25 August 19738 January 1977172645553037.21[32]
Steve Burtenshaw*  England10 January 197730 January 19774022000.00[30][33]
Gordon Lee  England1 February 19774 May 1981234927270039.32[34]
Howard Kendall  EnglandMay 1981[35]11 May 19873381837877054.14 2 Division One championships,
1 FA Cup,
1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup,
3 Charity Shields
[36]
Colin Harvey  England1 August 198730 October 1990170725246042.351 Charity Shield [37]
Jimmy Gabriel*  Scotland3 November 19903 November 19901100100.00[30][38]
Howard Kendall  England10 November 19904 December 1993162634059038.89[36]
Jimmy Gabriel*  Scotland8 December 19933 January 19947016000.00[30][38]
Mike Walker  Wales8 January 19945 November 19943561118017.14[39]
Joe Royle  England21 November 199427 March 1997123483936039.02 1 FA Cup,
1 Charity Shield
[40][41]
Dave Watson*  England5 April 199711 May 19977133014.29[42][43]
Howard Kendall  England27 June 199710 May 199842111318026.19[36]
Walter Smith  Scotland15 August 199810 March 2002173565067032.37[44]
David Moyes  Scotland16 March 200219 May 2013516217139160042.05 [45]
Roberto Martínez  Spain17 August 201312 May 2016140603941042.86
David Unsworth*  England15 May 201615 May 20161100100.00
Ronald Koeman  Netherlands14 June 201623 October 201758241420041.38
David Unsworth*  England24 October 201730 November 20178215025.00
Sam Allardyce  England30 November 201716 May 2018261079038.46
Marco Silva  Portugal31 May 20185 December 201960241224040.00
Duncan Ferguson*  Scotland5 December 201921 December 20194130025.00
Carlo Ancelotti  Italy21 December 20191 June 202167311422046.27
Rafael Benítez  Spain30 June 202116 January 2022227510031.82
Duncan Ferguson*  Scotland16 January 202231 January 20221001000.00
Frank Lampard  England31 January 202223 January 20234312823027.91
Sean Dyche  England30 January 202360211623035.00

References

External links

  • Official website – all dates taken from this site reflect the manager's first and last games rather than their dates of appointment and departure.