The following is a list of West Bromwich Albion managers from the founding of West Bromwich Albion F.C. in 1878 until the present. It includes both those who have been in permanent charge as well as caretaker managers.
All managers prior to 1948 were given the title secretary-manager, and dates for appointment of these should be taken only as approximate, although the years should be correct. The first secretary-manager was Louis Ford in 1890. Fred Everiss served as Albion's secretary-manager during 1902–1948, his 46 years in the post constituting a league record. A high turnover of managers at the club since then has meant that no-one has come close to this length of service, with 28 full-time managers having been appointed in the period 1948–2006.Ronnie Allen, Ron Atkinson and Johnny Giles all served as manager during two separate spells at Albion, thus are each counted twice in this total.
The full-time post of manager was created in 1948, with Jack Smith the first to take up the position. Albion's longest serving full-time manager was Vic Buckingham, who led the club for six years and in 1953–54 guided the club to victory in the FA Cup and a runners-up spot in the league.
From the 2009–10 season the title of manager was changed to head coach.
Managers and head coaches Only competitive matches are counted. As of 1 February 2026.
Name Nationality From To Honours Notes 1 August 189031 May 1892 Secretary-manager 1 August 189231 May 1894 1 August 189431 May 1895 1 August 189531 May 1896 1 August 18961 August 1902 1 August 190231 May 1948 Longest serving manager or secretary-manager 1 July 194830 April 1952 First dedicated, full-time manager 1 May 19521 February 1953 1 February 195331 May 1959 Longest serving full-time manager 1 June 19591 October 1961 1 October 19611 April 1963 1 April 196331 May 1967 1 June 19671 June 1971 8 July 19717 April 1975 7 April 197514 June 1975Robson pp. 26–27 (1st spell) 5 July 197521 May 1977 Player-manager (1st spell) 21 June 197722 December 1977 23 December 197711 January 1978Matthews (2005) p. 257Matthews (2007) p. 332 (1st spell) 12 January 19789 June 1981 (2nd spell) 1 July 19811 May 1982 27 July 198213 February 1984 (2nd spell) 14 February 198429 September 1985 29 September 19851 February 1986 14 February 19862 September 1987 (2nd spell) 3 September 198712 October 1988 13 October 19881 November 1988 2 November 19888 January 1991 9 January 199125 February 1991 25 February 19915 May 1992 8 May 199219 June 1993 19 June 199317 October 1994 20 October 199422 January 1997 21 January 19975 February 1997 6 February 19974 December 1997 5 December 199712 December 1997 13 December 199723 December 1997 24 December 199727 July 1999 & John Gorman 28 July 19992 August 1999––––n/a 3 August 19996 March 2000 & Allan Evans 7 March 20008 March 2000 (1st spell) 9 March 200026 October 2004 27 October 20048 November 2004 9 November 200418 September 2006 19 September 200617 October 2006 17 October 200617 October 2006 18 October 200616 June 2009 30 June 20096 February 2011 Di Matteo's role is head coach, not manager. 6 February 201114 February 2011 14 February 20111 May 2012 12 June 201214 December 2013 14 December 201311 January 2014 9 January 201412 May 2014 14 June 201429 December 2014 29 December 20141 January 2015 1 January 201520 November 2017 (2nd spell) 20 November 201729 November 2017 Caretaker manager(s) 29 November 20172 April 2018 2 April 20189 March 2019 10 March 201913 June 2019 13 June 201916 December 2020 16 December 202023 May 2021 24 June 20212 February 2022 3 February 202210 October 2022 10 October 202224 October 2022 25 October 202224 December 2024 24 December 202417 January 2025 (2nd Spell) 17 January 202521 April 2025 (1st Spell) 21 April 20253 May 2025 2 June 20256 January 2026 (2nd Spell) 6 January 202611 January 202611 January 202624 February 2026 Combined record as manager Name Nationality From To 5 July 197521 May 197714 February 198429 September 1985Total 21 June 197722 December 19771 July 19811 May 1982Total 12 January 19789 June 19813 September 198712 October 1988Total 13 October 19881 November 19882 November 19888 January 1991Total 9 March 200026 October 200420 November 201729 November 2017Total
Managers with honours Name Nationality Tenure Honours 1890 18921892 FA Cup 1894 18951895 FA Cup runners-up 1896 1902Div 2 winners 1901–02 1902 1948Div 2 winners 1910–111912 FA Cup runners-upDiv 1 winners 1919–201920 FA Charity ShieldDiv 1 runners-up 1924–251931 FA CupDiv 2 runners-up 1930–311931 FA Charity Shield runners-up1935 FA Cup runners-up 1948 1952Div 2 runners-up 1948–49 1953 1959Div 1 runners-up 1953–541954 FA Cup1954 FA Charity Shield shared 1963 19671966 League Cup1967 League Cup runners-up 1967 19711968 FA Cup1968 FA Charity Shield runners-up1970 League Cup runners-up 1992 19931993 Div 2 play-off winners 2000 2004Div 1 runners-up 2001–02Div 1 runners-up 2003–04 2006 20092007 Championship play-off runners-upChampionship winners 2007–08 2009 2011Championship runners up 2009–10 2019 2020Championship runners up 2019–20
Footnotes
References Manager History for West Bromwich Albion at Soccerbase.com
External links West Bromwich Albion's official website