Including repeat appointments, there have been 41 full-time managers of Blackpool F.C., the first being Bill Norman between 1918 and 1923. The longest-serving manager was Joe Smith, who occupied the role for 23 years; Michael Appleton, meanwhile, lasted 65 days in the role in his first stint at the club."Michael Appleton: Blackburn Rovers announce new manager" – BBC Sport, 11 January 2013 Blackpool have, on average, appointed a new manager just under every three years. As of October 2025, the club have had fourteen full-time managers in thirteen years.

There have been five repeat appointments: Bob Stokoe, Allan Brown, Simon Grayson, Michael Appleton and Neil Critchley.

In 2014, Jose Riga became the club's first foreign manager.

In 2020, Neil Critchley became the first appointment to be known as a head coach.

List of managers The statistics in the table below account for Football League and Premier League games only. Play-off games are excluded.

NameFromToGamesWonDrawnLostWin%Honours wonNo manager1896190319663389532.14Tom Barcroft (secretary-manager)19031909220615510427.73 Jack Cox (player-manager) 1909 1911 76 30 182839.47No manager1911191515248356931.58Bill Normanc. 1 August 1918c. 31 May 192316874365844.05No managerc. 31 May 19235 October 1923815212.50Major Frank Buckley6 October 1923c. 31 May 192716066365841.25 Sydney Beaumont c. 1 August 1927 c. 31 May 1928 42 13 8 21 30.95 Harry Evans (honorary manager) c. 1 August 1928 c. 31 May 1933 210 83 35 92 39.52 Division Two championship (1929–30) Sandy MacFarlane 1 July 1933 31 July 1935 84 36 24 24 42.86 Joe Smith c. 1 August 1935 30 April 1958 672 288 155 229 42.86 Promotion to Division One (1936–37), FA Cup (1953) Ron Suart 1 May 1958 1 February 1967 363 116 91 156 31.96 Stan Mortensen 1 February 1967 April 1969 99 40 27 32 40.40 Harry Johnston (caretaker manager) April 1969 April 1969 ? ? ? ? ??.?? Les Shannon 1 May 1969 26 October 1970 56 22 17 17 39.29 Promotion to Division One (1969–70) Jimmy Meadows (caretaker manager) 26 October 1970 20 December 1970 8 1 1 6 12.50 Bob Stokoe 20 December 1970 23 November 1972 80 28 24 28 35.00 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup No manager 23 November 1972 1 January 1973 7 4 0 3 57.14 Harry Potts 1 January 1973 5 May 1976 143 52 47 44 36.36 Allan Brown 5 May 1976 6 February 1978 69 28 23 18 40.58 Bobby Smith (caretaker manager) 6 February 1978 7 March 1978 2 0 1 1 00.00 Jimmy Meadows (caretaker manager) 7 March 1978 20 May 1978 13 1 6 6 07.69 Bob Stokoe (second time) 20 May 1978 17 August 1979 46 18 9 19 39.13 Stan Ternent 19 September 1979 1 February 1980 29 9 7 13 31.03 Freddie Scott (caretaker manager) February 1980 February 1980 ? ? ? ? ??.?? Alan Ball February 1980 28 February 1981 51 13 14 24 25.49 Allan Brown (second time) 1 March 1981 31 May 1982 58 17 17 24 29.31 Sam Ellis 1 June 1982 28 March 1989 311 117 89 105 37.62 Promotion to Division Three (1984–85) Jimmy Mullen (caretaker manager) 28 March 1989 20 May 1989 11 5 1 5 45.45 Jimmy Mullen 20 May 1989 30 April 1990 45 10 16 19 22.22 Tom White (caretaker manager) 30 April 1990 11 June 1990 1 0 0 1 00.00 Graham Carr 11 June 1990 30 November 1990 16 5 3 8 31.25 Billy Ayre 30 November 1990 10 June 1994 164 68 37 59 41.46 Promotion to (new) Division Two (1991–92) Sam Allardyce 19 July 1994 29 May 1996 92 41 23 28 44.57 Gary Megson 5 July 1996 1 July 1997 46 18 15 13 39.13 Nigel Worthington 8 July 1997 23 December 1999 113 34 32 47 30.09 Mike Hennigan &Mike Davies (caretaker managers) 23 December 1999 7 January 2000 3 0 1 2 00.00 Steve McMahon 7 January 2000 6 June 2004 206 72 53 81 34.95 Promotion to Division Two (2000–01), League Trophy (2002 and 2004) Colin Hendry 7 June 2004 10 November 2005 62 18 19 25 29.03 Simon Grayson (caretaker manager)10 November 20055 June 2006309101130.00Simon Grayson5 August 200623 December 2008 11643373637.06Promotion to The Championship (2006–07)Tony Parkes &Steve Thompson (caretaker managers)24 December 200818 May 20092269727.27 Ian Holloway 21 May 20093 November 2012143544049Promotion to the Premier League (2009–10) Steve Thompson (caretaker manager) 3 November 20127 November 20122101 Michael Appleton 7 November 201211 January 2013 11272 Steve Thompson (caretaker manager)11 January 2013 18 February 2013 6204 Paul Ince 18 February 2013 21 January 201440121513 Barry Ferguson (caretaker manager) 21 January 2014 3 May 2014 203512 José Riga 11 June 2014 27 October 2014 141310Lee Clark 30 October 2014 9 May 2015 3231118Neil McDonald2 June 2015 18 May 2016 14446Gary Bowyer1 June 2016 6 August 2018115424033Promotion to League One (2016–17)Terry McPhillips6 August 20185 July 2019562118170Simon Grayson6 July 2019 12 February 2020 2910910David Dunn (caretaker manager)12 February 2020 2 March 2020 4211Neil Critchley2 March 2020 2 June 2022 94392431 Promotion to The Championship (2020–21)Michael Appleton 17 June 202218 January 2023 276813 Mick McCarthy 19 January 20238 April 2023 14239 Stephen Dobbie (interim) 8 April 202323 May 2023 6303 Neil Critchley 23 May 202321 August 2024 48211017 Richard Keogh (interim) 21 August 20243 September 2024 2020Steve Bruce3 September 20244 October 2025 62221921Ian Evatt21 October 2025 present

Notes – Also played for Blackpool – Norman was the club's first full-time manager – Position known as head coach henceforth

References Specific