List of Burnley F.C. managers

Ernest Mangnall left debt-ridden Burnley for Manchester United in 1903

From 1882 to 1894, the team was selected by the board of directors or a committee whose secretary had the same powers and role as a manager has today.[5] In the summer of 1894, Burnley decided to follow other clubs and appoint a team manager. Burnley-born Harry Bradshaw was chosen, although he also assumed secretarial duties. Bradshaw had been involved with the club since the change from rugby union to association football in 1882, and had been a committee member since 1887.[5] In 1896–97, Burnley were relegated to the Second Division for the first time,[6] but were back the following season, losing only two of 30 matches.[7] Bradshaw led the team to a third place finish in 1898–99, the club's highest league finish at the time, after which he left for Second Division Woolwich Arsenal.[5] After his departure, team affairs remained in the hands of the board of directors until Ernest Mangnall was appointed in March 1900.[5] Mangnall could not prevent another relegation in his first months at the club. The team struggled in the second tier, even finishing in bottom place in 1902–03 (but were re-elected).[8] Alarming performances on the field mixed with a considerable debt saw him leave Burnley for Manchester United in October 1903, where he would become the first manager to bring any major silverware to the club.[9] Mangnall was succeeded by Spin Whittaker, who signed club's record appearance holder Jerry Dawson in 1907. In April 1910, he was on his way to London by overnight train to register the signing of a new player, Harry Swift from Accrington Stanley. Shortly after the train departed, he fell off the train, and was found lying on the track with horrific injuries. He died shortly afterwards.[9] Team affairs were in the hands of the directors until the end of the season.[10]

The directors signed John Haworth, who changed the club's colours from green to the claret and sky blue of Aston Villa, the 1909–10 Football League champions, as Haworth and the Burnley committee believed it might bring a change of fortune.[11] They were promoted back to the First Division in 1912–13, and reached the FA Cup semi-final. In 1914, the club's first major honour was won; the FA Cup, against fellow Lancastrians Liverpool (1–0).[12] English Football was suspended after 1915, due to the First World War, but the club participated in regional league and cup competitions.[13] Upon resumption of full-time football in 1919–20, the team finished second in the First Division to West Bromwich Albion,[14] but this was not a peak, merely presaging Burnley's first ever First Division championship in 1920–21.[15] The team lost the opening three matches before going on a 30-match unbeaten run,[16] an English record for unbeaten league games in a single season that lasted until Arsenal went unbeaten through the whole of the 2003–04 FA Premier League season.[17] Haworth became the second Burnley manager to die while in office in 1924, when he died of pneumonia.[10] His successor was Burnley-born Albert Pickles, who had been elected to the board of directors in 1918.[10] A steady deterioration of the club's position followed, which culminated in demotion in 1929–30.[8] Burnley struggled in the second tier, narrowly avoiding a further relegation in 1931–32 by two points.[18] Two games into the 1932–33 season, and after a 6–1 defeat at Preston North End, Pickles offered his resignation, which was accepted by the board.[19] Tom Bromilow was then appointed, and was the first Burnley manager to have played football at a professional level. He inherited a struggling squad, as club's record goal scorer George Beel and Louis Page had already left.[19] Highlight was the FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1934–35, where they lost against Sheffield Wednesday.[20] Bromilow left the club to manage Crystal Palace in 1935, after which the directors decided not to appoint a team manager, due to economical reasons.[21] Team affairs became a joint effort between chairman Tom Clegg, secretary Alf Boland, and senior trainer Billy Dougall.[21]

Cliff Britton was named manager in May 1945, the first non secretary-manager in the club's history. Characterized as a dour man with a strict disciplinary code, he preferred teetotal, non-smoking players.[21] In his first season of league football, he gained promotion through second place in the Second Division. The team's defence were nicknamed "The Iron Curtain", since they only conceded 29 goals in 42 league matches.[22] Additionally, there was a run to the FA Cup Final for the second time, only for Charlton Athletic to beat Burnley 1–0 after extra time.[23] The team immediately made an impact in the top division, finishing third in 1947–48 as they began to assemble a team capable of regularly aiming for honours.[24][25] At the end of the season, he left to return to Everton.[21] He was succeeded by Frank Hill, who became the first non-English manager in the club's history. Jimmy McIlroy was signed from Northern Irish club Glentoran by Hill in 1950. In 1954, he accepted an offer from Preston North End. His successor was Alan Brown, a former Burnley player, who was part of "The Iron Curtain" defence.[26] Under Brown and chairman Bob Lord, Burnley became one of the first clubs to build a purpose-built training centre (Gawthorpe).[27] Brown helped to dig out the ground himself, and he also "volunteered" several of his players to help out.[28] Further, Burnley became, after foundations were again laid by Brown and Lord,[29] renowned for their youth policy and scouting system, which yielded many young players over the years.[30] He also introduced short corners and a huge array of free kick routines, which were soon copied across the land.[31] Billy Dougall succeeded Brown in 1957, who left for Sunderland. Dougall's tenure lasted only one year, as he was forced to relinquish the post due to poor health.[32]

Former Burnley player Harry Potts was then appointed manager.[32] His team mainly revolved around the duo of captain Jimmy Adamson and playmaker Jimmy McIlroy.[33] He often employed the, at the time unfashionable, 4–4–2 formation and he introduced Total Football to English football in his first seasons at the club.[34][35] Under his guidance, Burnley won a second First Division title in the 1959–60 season.[36] The title-winning squad cost only £13,000 (equivalent to £300,000 in 2020)[lower-alpha 1] in transfer fees — £8,000 on McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959.[37] The other players all came from the Burnley youth academy.[37] The following season, Burnley played in European competition for the first time, reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup.[38] The team finished the 1961–62 season as runners-up (after winning only two of the last thirteen league matches) to newly promoted Ipswich Town, and had a run to the FA Cup Final, where they lost 3–1 against Tottenham Hotspur.[39] Nonetheless, although far from a two-man team, the controversial departure of McIlroy to Stoke City (1963) and retirement of Adamson (1964) coincided with a decline in fortunes.[40] Even more damaging was the impact of the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961, meaning clubs from small towns, like Burnley, could no longer compete financially with teams from bigger towns and cities.[41][42] The club managed, however, to retain a First Division place throughout the decade, even finishing third in 1965–66 to qualify for the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[2]

Jimmy Mullen guided the club from the fourth to the second tier

In February 1970, Potts decided to step aside after a 12-year spell to become Burnley's general manager, and was succeeded by his protege Jimmy Adamson.[43] Adamson hailed his squad as the "Team of the Seventies", but was unable to halt the slide and relegation followed in 1970–71.[43] The team won the Second Division title in 1972–73, losing only four times in 42 matches.[44] Adamson left the club in January 1976 and was replaced by his assistant manager Joe Brown, who could not prevent relegation to the second tier later that year. Brown was sacked in 1977 to make way for the return of Harry Potts.[45] Potts won the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1979, but was replaced by former Burnley player Brian Miller (who Potts had coached) a few months later, after the team found themselves in the relegation zone.[46] Miller could not save the team, and Burnley were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in 1979–80.[2] In 42 league games, Burnley could not manage a win in any of the first 16 or the last 16 games of the season.[47] Burnley were promoted back to the second tier as champions in 1981–82.[48] Nonetheless, Miller was replaced by caretaker manager Frank Casper in January 1983, only a day before the League Cup quarter-final away at First Division Tottenham; the team won 4–1 to record an unlikely victory.[49] However, Casper could not prevent another relegation to the third tier at the end of the season, so his role was not made permanent; John Bond was his replacement.[50] The unpopular Bond was the first Burnley manager since Frank Hill without a previous playing career at the club. He was criticised for signing expensive players, which increased Burnley's debt, and for selling young talents Lee Dixon, Brian Laws and Trevor Steven.[51] Bond was succeeded by John Benson after one season. Under Benson, the team were relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in 1984–85.[52]

More managerial changes continued to be made in a search for success; Martin Buchan (briefly) and then Tommy Cavanagh saw the side through 1985–86, before Miller returned for the 1986–87 season.[53] In a disastrous season, which saw only 12 wins in 46 league games and a first round FA Cup 3–0 defeat at non-league Telford United,[2][54] Burnley went into the last match in bottom place needing a win against Orient, and for Lincoln City to lose and for Torquay United to not win.[55] The team won and stayed in the Fourth Division, as Torquay drew and Lincoln lost.[55] In May 1988, Burnley were back at Wembley; this time to play Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final of the Associate Members' Cup, which they lost 2–0. The match was attended by 80,000 people, a record for a tie between two teams from English football's fourth tier.[56] In January 1989, Miller was again replaced by Casper, with Miller taking up the role as chief scout.[49] In 1990–91, the club qualified for the Fourth Division play-offs, where they were eliminated in the semi-final by Torquay United.[57] The following season, Burnley fared better, as they became champions under new manager Jimmy Mullen. Mullen succeeded Casper in October, as Mullen won his first nine league matches in charge.[58] In 1993–94, Burnley won the Second Division play-offs and gained promotion to the second tier,[59] but relegation followed after one season.[60] Mullen was sacked by the Burnley board in February 1996, following a poor string of results. Adrian Heath succeeded him in March 1996 and took on the role of player-manager.[61] Heath left in June 1997 to become Howard Kendall's assistant manager at Everton.[62] His successor was player-manager Chris Waddle, with Glenn Roeder as his assistant.[63] A disappointing 1997–98 season followed, only a last day 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle ensured a narrow escape from relegation back into the fourth tier.[64]

Owen Coyle described Bolton Wanderers as "five or 10 years ahead" of Burnley

The departure of Waddle in 1998 and the appointment of former Burnley player Stan Ternent that summer saw the club start to make further progress.[65] In 1999–2000, they finished second and gained promotion back to the second tier.[66] Burnley immediately made an impact, as during the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons, they emerged as serious contenders for a promotion play-off place.[2] In early 2002, financial problems caused by the collapse of ITV Digital brought the club again close to administration.[67][68] In June 2004, Ternent's six years as manager came to an end, narrowly avoiding relegation in his last season with a squad composed of many loanees and some players who were not entirely fit.[69][70] Steve Cotterill was then appointed as manager,[71] but a poor run of results led to the departure of Cotterill in November 2007.[72] His replacement was St Johnstone manager Owen Coyle.[73] The 2008–09 season, Coyle's first full season in charge, ended with promotion to the Premier League; a return to the top flight after 33 years, after Sheffield United was defeated in the Championship play-off Final.[74] Burnley started the Premier League season well, becoming the first newly promoted team in the Premier League to win their first four league home games, including a 1–0 win over defending champions Manchester United.[75] However, Coyle left Burnley in January 2010, to manage local rivals Bolton Wanderers. He described Bolton as "five or 10 years ahead" of Burnley.[76] Brian Laws was his successor, but the team's form plummeted under the new manager, and they were relegated after a single season in the Premier League.[77] Laws was dismissed in December 2010 and replaced by Eddie Howe.[78] Howe guided Burnley to an eighth-place finish in the Championship in his first season, narrowly missing out on a play-off place.[79] Nonetheless, he left the club in October 2012 to rejoin his hometown club Bournemouth; Howe citing personal reasons for the move.[80] He was replaced in the same month by Sean Dyche.[81]

In his full season in charge, Dyche guided Burnley back to the Premier League in 2013–14 on a tight budget and with a small squad.[82][83] He paid a transfer fee for only one player since his appointment — £400,000 on striker Ashley Barnes.[84] But again, the stay in the top flight lasted a single season as they finished 19th out of 20 clubs and were subsequently relegated.[85] Burnley won the Championship title on their return in 2015–16, equaling their club record of 93 points of 2013–14, and ending the season with a run of 23 league games undefeated.[86] The team stayed up this time; the 2016–17 season was concluded in 16th place.[87] Burnley completed construction of Barnfield Training Centre in 2017, which replaced the 60-year-old Gawthorpe.[88] Dyche was involved in the design of the training centre and had willingly tailored his transfer spending as he and the board focused on the club's infrastructure and future.[88][89] The 2017–18 season saw Burnley finish the season with more points collected on the road than at home.[90] They ultimately secured an unexpected seventh place at the end of the season to qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League,[90] in which they were eliminated in the play-off round.[91]