This chronological list of managers of Aston Villa Football Club comprises all those who have held the position of secretary or manager of the first team of Aston Villa since the formation of the club in 1874. From 1874 to 1934, the team was selected by a committee whose secretary had the same powers and role as a manager has today. There were two secretaries during this period, George Ramsay and W. J. Smith. The most successful person to manage the club was George Ramsay, who won six FA Cups and six First Division championships in his 42-year reign as secretary. Jimmy McMullan became the first full-time manager in 1934. Aston Villa were the first top-tier club to appoint a manager from outside the United Kingdom or Ireland when Jozef Vengloš was appointed in 1990.[1]

Manager turnover has increased substantially over the past 30 years. The chairman of the time, Doug Ellis, acquired the nickname "Deadly Doug" because of his penchant for hiring and firing managers. In the 37 years that Ellis was involved with the Board, he hired and fired 13 out of the 24 managers that Aston Villa have had over their 133-year history.[2] One of Ellis's last acts before selling the club to Randy Lerner was to appoint Martin O'Neill, who was with the club from 4 August 2006 to 9 August 2010.[3]

Managers

This list does not include caretaker managers or those who managed in a temporary capacity.

Information correct as of 17 December 2023. Only competitive matches are counted.
Table of Aston Villa F.C. managers, including tenure, record and honours
Name Nationality From To Matches Won Drawn Lost Win%[a] Honours Notes
George Ramsay[b]  Scotland August 1884 May 1926 1,327 658 414 255 049.59 First Division champions: 1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1909–10
FA Cup winners: 1886–87, 1894–95, 1896–97, 1904–05, 1912–13, 1919–20 		[4][5]
W. J. Smith[b]  England August 1926 May 1934 364 175 67 122 048.08 - [6]
Jimmy McMullan  Scotland June 1934 October 1936 55 17 15 23 030.91 - [7][8]
Jimmy Hogan  England Summer 1936 September 1939 124 57 26 41 045.97 Second Division champions: 1937–38 [9]
Alex Massie  Scotland August 1945 August 1950 189 76 46 67 040.21 - [10]
George Martin  Scotland December 1950 August 1953 119 47 30 42 039.50 - [11]
Eric Houghton  England September 1953 November 1958 250 88 65 97 035.20 FA Cup winners: 1956–57 [12]
Joe Mercer  England December 1958 July 1964 282 120 63 99 042.55 Second Division champions: 1959–60
League Cup winners: 1960–61 		[13]
Dick Taylor  England July 1964 May 1967 144 51 22 71 035.42 - [14]
Tommy Cummings  England July 1967 November 1968 62 18 14 30 029.03 - [15]
Tommy Docherty  Scotland December 1968 January 1970 46 13 16 17 028.26 - [16]
Vic Crowe  Wales January 1970 May 1974 199 88 55 56 044.22 Third Division champions: 1971–72 [17]
Ron Saunders  England June 1974 February 1982 353 157 98 98 044.48 First Division champions: 1980–81
League Cup winners: 1974–75, 1976–77
Aston Villa Hall of Fame[c] 		[18]
Tony Barton  England February 1982 June 1984 130 58 24 48 044.62 European Cup winners: 1981–82
European Super Cup winners: 1982 		[19]
Graham Turner  England July 1984 September 1986 105 33 29 43 031.43 - [20]
Billy McNeill  Scotland September 1986 May 1987 41 9 15 17 021.95 - [21]
Graham Taylor  England May 1987 July 1990 142 65 35 42 045.77 - [22]
Jozef Vengloš  Czechoslovakia July 1990 May 1991 49 16 15 18 032.65 - [23]
Ron Atkinson  England July 1991 November 1994 178 77 45 56 043.26 League Cup winners: 1993–94 [24]
Brian Little  England November 1994 February 1998 164 68 45 51 041.46 League Cup winners: 1995–96
Aston Villa Hall of Fame[c] 		[25]
John Gregory  England February 1998 January 2002 190 82 52 56 043.16 Intertoto Cup winners: 2001 [26]
Graham Taylor  England February 2002 May 2003 60 19 14 27 031.67 - [22]
David O'Leary  Ireland May 2003 July 2006 131 47 35 49 035.88 - [27]
Martin O'Neill  Northern Ireland August 2006 August 2010 190 80 60 50 042.11 - [28]
Gérard Houllier  France September 2010 June 2011 36 14 8 14 038.89 - [29]
Alex McLeish  Scotland June 2011 May 2012 42 9 17 16 021.43 - [30]
Paul Lambert  Scotland June 2012 February 2015 115 34 26 55 029.57 - [31]
Tim Sherwood  England February 2015 October 2015 28 10 2 16 035.71 - [32]
Rémi Garde  France November 2015 March 2016 23 3 7 13 013.04 - [33]
Roberto Di Matteo  Italy June 2016 October 2016 12 1 7 4 008.33 - [34]
Steve Bruce  England October 2016 October 2018 102 46 25 31 045.10 - [35]
Dean Smith  England October 2018 November 2021 134 55 28 51 041.04 Play-off winners: 2018–19[36] [37]
Steven Gerrard  England November 2021 October 2022 40 13 8 19 032.50 [38]
Unai Emery  Spain November 2022 Ongoing 53 33 7 13 062.26 [39]

Notes

  1. ^ Win percentage is rounded to two decimal places
  2. ^ a b Secretary of the committee that chose the team
  3. ^ a b The Aston Villa Hall of Fame was voted for by fans and to this date there has been one induction of 12 players and managers in 2006.

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "Celtic appoints new coach". BBC Sport. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  2. ^ "The Managers of Aston Villa". fansite(br0wn.co.uk). Archived from the original on 28 July 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  3. ^ "O'Neill named Aston Villa manager". BBC Sport. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
  4. ^ "Hall of Fame". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  5. ^ "George Ramsay managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
  6. ^ "WJ Smith managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  7. ^ "Jimmy McMullan managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  8. ^ Hayes, Dean, AVFC A-Z
  9. ^ "Jimmy Hogan managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  10. ^ "Alex Massie managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  11. ^ "George Martin managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  12. ^ "Eric Houghton managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  13. ^ "Joe Mercer managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  14. ^ "Dick Taylor managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  15. ^ "Tommy Cummings managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  16. ^ "Tommy Docherty managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  17. ^ "Vic Crowe managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  18. ^ "Ron Saunders managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  19. ^ "Tony Barton managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  20. ^ "Graham Turner managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  21. ^ "Billy McNeill managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  22. ^ a b "Graham Taylor managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  23. ^ "Jozef Venglos managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  24. ^ "Ron Atkinson managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  25. ^ "Brian Little managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  26. ^ "John Gregory managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  27. ^ "David O'Leary managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  28. ^ "Martin O'Neill managerial stats". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  29. ^ "Gerard Houllier managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Alex McLeish managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  31. ^ "Paul Lambert managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  32. ^ "Tim Sherwood managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  33. ^ "Remi Garde managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  34. ^ "Roberto Di Matteo managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  35. ^ "Steve Bruce managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  36. ^ "Report: Championship Play-Off Final".
  37. ^ "Dean Smith managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  38. ^ "Steven Gerrard managerial stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  39. ^ "Unai Emery Etxegoien Stats - Villarreal Manager | FootyStats". footystats.org. Retrieved 9 November 2022.

External links

Aston Villa Football Club
Aston Villa F.C. – managers
Lists of English football managers by club
Categories