The Managers

Fred Stewart is generally given the status as County's first manager but for much - if not all - of his time at County he was never given the title manager. In his role as secretary of the club he was probably responsible for getting the players signatures on contracts. A number of men held the same role before him and they have been included in the list below where they have been traced.

With ongoing research the specific details of this list will be updated from time to time and more photos and profiles will be added. If no leaving date is given it is assumed that the person left on or just before the date of the next appointment. Permanent appointments are in capitals; with Fred Stewart shown as the first of these.

	MN Shaw	3 August 1892	Committee Secretary Resigned
		until 1893
	S Stewart	7 July 1893	Committee Secretary. Appears to still be in post in August 1894. Brother of Fred
	George Ellis	Date appointed not known	Committee Secretary In post by December 1895. Resigned
	Fred Stewart	16 June 1896	Committee Secretary An Oldham born Corn-and-Seed merchant by trade, which he continued to do after moving to Cardiff.
	Sam Ormerod	5 May 1903	The first person with the term Manager in his job title. A player and referee in Lancashire football in the 1880's he came from Accrington. After relegation he resigned in the 1902 close season. Sam finished his managerial career with a spell at Orient returning to sign a couple of County's players.
		until 9 May 1904
	Fred Stewart	23 May 1904	Committee Secretary He had been at County for 18 years when he responded to a job advert in an April 1911 edition of Athletic News. Manager at Cardiff until May 1933, he died in 1954.
		until May 1911
	Harry Lewis	19 June 1911	Former referee born in Rotherham. 15 years with the Sheffield FA. Left for Barnsley
		until 6 April 1914
	David Ashworth	April 1914	Secretary Manager "Little Dave" Ashworth played for Newchurch Rovers then became a Football League referee. Managed Oldham before joining County. Later manager of Liverpool, Oldham (again), Manchester C, Walsall, Caernarfon, and Llanelli. Died 23 March 1947 (aged 79) in Blackpool
	R McLachlan	December 1919	Secretary Manager Former County reserve team player. In February 1922 the board asked him to hand in his notice and advertised for his replacement. He refused to do so. Previously 20 years experience as a referee for the Stockport FA.
	Albert Williams	12 April 1922	Former Stockport player and trainer
	Fred Scotchbrook	13 November 1924	Secretary Manager. Joined from a coaching job at Bolton Wanderers. Born Horwich. Played for Bolton W, Bristol St George's, Bristol Rov and back to Bolton W. Later with Wolverhampton W as secretary-manager from 1926. Died in April 1948.
		until February 1926
	Lincoln Hyde	21 April 1926	Secretary Manager.
	Ernest Barlow Henry Patten	April 1931	No manager appointed, senior directors selected team
	Andrew Wilson	1 August 1932	Played for Clyde and Sheffield Wed where he made over 500 league appearances scoring 200 goals. His management career included Bristol Rov, Oldham Ath and County.
	Fred Westgarth	May 1933	Officially just Trainer until 13 July 1935 when he became Trainer Manager. Born in July 1887 his coaching career began as Assistant Trainer at South Shields. Later worked at Ebbw Vale, Workington and Luton. He left County for Carlisle U with their manager moving to Edgeley Park. Later worked at Bradford C and Hartlepools U. Died in February 1957.
		until 9 September 1936
	Bob Kelly	13 November 1936	Started as Carlisle U player manager before joining County. He resigned 16 on June 1938 but agreed to stay in post until end of July. After leaving County he coached in Portugal, Switzerland and the Channel Islands before becoming a publican until his death in 1969.
		until July 1938
	Bob Marshall	22 March 1939	Born in Hucknall and played for Sunderland and Manchester City. He was transferred to County in March 1939 when he was appointed as manager, retiring at the same time. Bob left the post shortly after war was declared.
		until September 1939
	Henry Catterick	31 July 1942	An ex County player and trainer who stepped in to help out the club during the war. He may have been in post as caretaker from when Marshall joined the forces. Resigned due to work commitments he is the father of future Everton man, and war time County player, of the same name.
		until June 1945
	Bob Marshall	August 1945	After being released from war work Marshall agreed terms with the board to resume charge for the 1945/46 season. He resigned to take over at Chesterfield and started there before his contract at County had officially ended.
		until 26 March 1949
	Charles Martin	28 February 1949	Club secretary acting as caretaker manager
	Andy Beattie	1 May 1949	Beattie was appointed Secretary Manager to enable him to sign players. Born in Aberdeenshire and played for Inverurie Loco and Preston NE plus several clubs during the war. He managed Barrow before joining County. Left to takeover at Huddersfield and was later in charge at Nottingham For and Wolverhampton W; plus two spells in charge of Scotland. Also coached at several clubs.
	Alex Herd (pictured) Bill Newton	18 April 1952	Coaches acting as caretaker managers
	Dick Duckworth	22 October 1952	Having played for Oldham Ath, Chesterfield, Southport, Chester, Rotherham U and York C, Duckworth became player-manager at Newark Town. After the war he worked at a couple of clubs before taking over as York manager in March 1950. He left to join County before going on to manage Darlington and Scunthorpe U.
		until 30 May 1956
	Willie Moir	27 June 1956	Joined County from Bolton W as a player before taking over as player-manager; retiring from the playing side in May 1958. Later had a spell as Nelson manager and worked on Bolton's commercial staff until his death in 1988. The first County manager to have a regular column in the local newspaper.
	Roy Clarke Bill Newton	August 1960	Coaches acting as caretaker managers
	Reg Flewin	30 September 1960	Joined for Portsmouth where he was assistant-manager. Left to takeover at Bournemouth and Boscombe Ath
	Trevor Porteous	17 July 1963	County veteran who was appointed player-manager when Flewin left. Trevor retired as a player in May 1965. Resigned when he felt the club's management re-organisation would lessen his powers to select the team.
	Bert Trautmann	19 October 1965	A former prisoner of war who had a lengthy career at Manchester C after starting out with St Helen's T. He was appointed as Administrative Manager at County in September 1964, before becoming General Manager the following summer. He was put in charge of team affairs in a management re-shuffle. He soon relinquished team affairs to new recruit Quigley. Bert later coached abroad including two years in Burma.
	Eddie Quigley	29 October 1965	Official title of post was Team Manager. Bury born man who played for his home town team before moving to Sheffield Wed, Preston NE, Blackburn Rov and back to Bury. He managed Mossley for six years, then was a coach at Gigg Lane before joining County. He resigned to become Blackburn Rovers Assistant Manager towards the end of October 1966.
	Jimmy Meadows	26 October 1966	Another former Manchester City veteran who was appointed to the training staff there after injury ended his career. Joined County as trainer in January 1966 before stepping up when Quigley left. Resigned at club's request.
	Walter Galbraith	30 March 1969	A former Clyde, Queen's Park and New Brighton player. He took over as player manager at his last club and sold himself to Grimsby T in August 1951. Later player-manager at Accrington S before retiring from playing in May 1954. Resigned as a manager in August 1958 to take over at Bradford PA and was later in charge of Tranmere and Hibernian. Appointed County's' first full time Chief Scout in July 1968 but later did some coaching. He was sacked in April 1970.
	Matt Woods	6 April 1970	The club's coach, acting until September 1970. Sacked following the FA Cup defeat at Blyth.
	Steve Fleet	12 December 1971	Youth coach acting as caretaker
	Brian Doyle	24 March 1972	A Salford native who played for Stoke C, Exeter C and Bristol Rov. He managed Workington, where he was divisional Manager of the Month in November 1970, and County joining from the assistant manager's post at Blackpool. He was in charge of County during their first famous League Cup run of 1972-72. Sacked by County, reportedly due to the distance he was living from the ground, he later went abroad and coached in Kuwait and Finland. Brian died in December 1992.
		until 9 May 1974
	Jimmy Meadows	13 May 1974	After leaving County Jimmy's next managerial post saw him win the Fourth Division Championship with Southport. He rejoined County as manager but stayed only until August 1975 when he resigned over a matter of principle. After a brief spell back at Blackpool he pursued a coaching career abroad starting in Sweden and at one stage brought his Kuwaiti Al Sadd sporting club side to Edgeley Park as part of an English Tour. He died in 1994.
	Eddie Hopkinson	5 August 1975	The former Bolton W and England player joined County as assistant manager in July 1974. He returned to that role after his brief stint as caretaker manager. Later worked as goalkeeper coach at Bolton and managed Ashton United.
	Roy Chapman	2 September 1975	The man who masterminded Stafford Rangers FA Cup giant-killing performances of 1974-75 (including knocking County out). A former Aston Villa, Lincoln C, Mansfield T, Port Vale and Chester player. After a spell at Nuneaton he joined Stafford as manager and that FA Cup win must have played a part in County appointing him. After being sacked by County he returned to Vale as coach for a short time before taking charge of Stafford again. Roy, whose son is ex Arsenal player Lee Chapman, died in 1983.
		until 6 May 1976
	Eddie Quigley	24 May 1976	Rejoined the club from Blackpool where he was coaching. Things were looking good when he was Manager of the Month, Division Four, September 1976 but was later sacked for economy reasons, After his second spell at Stockport he worked as a scout for Blackburn, and Blackpool.
	Alan Thompson	21 April 1977	Player-manager. Resigned but retained as player Manager of the Month, Division Four, October 1977
	Mike Summerbee	28 March 1978	Player-manager. Resigned
	Committee of players & Directors	16 October 1979	Caretakers
	Jimmy McGuigan	14 November 1979	From Rotherham United. Resigned, later joining Sheffield United coaching staff
		until 22 April 1982
	Eric Webster	15 September 1981	Caretaker whilst manager ill.
		until 24 January 1982
	Eric Webster	22 April 1982	Acting for one week, and close season 1985
	Les Chapman	17 July 1985	From Rochdale. Acting player-manager
	Colin Murphy	8 August 1985	After injury stopped his senior playing career Colin went into coaching and management. With too many clubs to list here is most publicised roles were a manager at Derby County then nearly 7 years in charge at Lincoln. Soon after taking over at County was offered a reported £ 40,000 a year post in Saudi Arabia. After lengthy deliberation he chose to leave.
	Les Chapman	3 November 1985	Player-manager. His managerial career began in the same joint role for 2 months at Rochdale, before switching to Assistant Manager. Joined County as a player but took over when Murphy left. After being sacked following a poor run-in he joined Preston as player-coach and later managed them.
		until May 1986
	Jimmy Melia	9 July 1986	After a long playing career including two England caps he worked as player manager at Aldershot and Crewe Alex. He then managed Southport, New York Eagles, Southport (again). After coaching abroad he was scouting at Brighton when appointed manager in December 1982 from his post as His last club before County was Portuguese side Belenses and he was reported to have returned their after leaving County. Now believed to be working in America.
	Eric Webster	3 November 1986	Caretaker
	Colin Murphy	14 November 1986	Brought back from Al Ittihad to save County from being the first club relegated from the League. At season's end he took over at Lincoln - who had dropped into non-league football. Has had many more clubs since, most recently on the coaching staff at Hull City, although he recently retired from football.
	Eric Webster	26 May 1987	Caretaker
	Asa Hartford	10 July 1987	From Bolton. Player-manager. Sacked and joined Oldham as player
	Eric Webster	21 March 1989	Caretaker
	Danny Bergara	28 March 1989	Uruguayan born Danny played there and in Spain before moving to England to get into coaching. He mostly worked under former County war-time player Harry Haslam, with his longest spell being at Sheffield United before taking over as Rochdale manager. Chairman Brendan Elwood, who knew him from his Sheffield days, brought Danny to County to start a run of success not seen for many years. The pair fell out at a club function resulting in Danny being sacked. He later managed Rotherham and Doncaster in the League and coached at several League and non-league clubs. Manager of the Month, Division Three, January 1992 and Division Two, August 1993 (awarded by the Managers Association)
	Dave Jones	31 March 1995	Injury put paid to Dave's League playing career and he got into coaching whilst playing non-league football in the North West. Brought to County from Morecambe as coach he was the Chairman's choice as manager when Bergara left. A succession of quality signings eventually produced a team few clubs could beat and County returned to their highest level for 50 years - whilst reaching the League Cup and Autoglass semi-finals. One of the teams County beat in that League Cup run were impressed enough to pay around £200,000 compensation to take Dave and his management team. He has since managed a number of clubs mostly in the second tier of football. Manager of the Month, Division Two, December 1996 and January 1997. Manager of the Year, Division Two, 1997 (awarded by the Managers Association)
		until 23 June 1997
	Gary Megson	1 July 1997	Was Blackpool's manager when appointed. Sacked and later joined Stoke City as manager. Manager of the Month, Division One, November 1997
	Andy Kilner	25 June 1999	Football in the Community Officer. Left by mutual consent.
		OUT: 29 October 2001
	Craig Madden	29 October 2001	Caretaker from Reserve/Youth Team manager
	Carlton Palmer	6 November 2001	Player manager unattached at time of appointment. Sacked and next appeared for Darlington reserves
	John Hollins	21 September 2003	Caretaker manager from Director of Football
	Sammy McIlroy	15 October 2003	Joined from Northern Ireland manager. Left by mutual consent. Non League Manager of the season 1994-95.
		until 25 November 2004
	Mark Lillis	25 November 2004	Caretaker manager, from Assistant. Left club when Turner appointed.
	Chris Turner	20 December 2004	Resigned
	Jim Gannon	27 December 2005	Caretaker until 17 Jan 2006. Made redundant by Administrators
		until 6 May 2009
	Craig Madden Mike Wiblin	June 2009	Acting managers following redundancy of Management team. Returned to previous roles
	Gary Ablett	8 July 2009	Out of work after being one of many men sacked from Liverpool's backroom set up (where he was reserve team manager) at the end of May 2009. Removed from post when new owners took County out of Admin.
		Until 17 June 2010
	Paul Simpson	12 July 2010	Much travelled as both a player and a manager. Most recently had two years in charge of Shrewsbury Town, being sacked in April 2010.
	Peter Ward	4 January 2011	Acting manager following the dismissal of Paul Simpson
	Ray Mathias	7 March 2011	Originally came in as an advisor to the board and managers but was asked to take over the team. Interim manager until 25 May 2011. Offered subsidiary role under Hammann.
	Dietmar Hammann	5 July 2011	Brought in as part of the new investement by the club's new potential owner Tony Evans. Resigned 7 November 2011
	James Gannon	11 November 2011	Director of Football/Manager