List of Swindon Town F.C. managers

Glenn Hoddle led Swindon Town to the Premier League in 1993.[1]

The current manager of Swindon Town Football Club is Mark Kennedy. The club has had 36 permanent managers (of whom six also served as player-manager) while Iffy Onuora, Mark Cooper and Luke Williams have served as both interim manager and permanent manager.

Swindon Town's first ever manager was former Swindon Town committee member Sam Allen. Allen remains Swindon Town's longest-serving manager, holding the position for 31 years between 1902 and 1933, spanning 1,192 matches. Swindon Town's shortest reigning permanent manager is Martin Ling, who was in charge for nine games. Statistically, Swindon Town's least successful manager is Paul Hart, who won just one of his 11 matches in charge.

The first manager under whom Swindon Town won a major trophy was Danny Williams, who guided the club to the Football League Cup in the 1968–69 season. Fred Ford, Lou Macari, Osvaldo Ardiles, Glenn Hoddle, Steve McMahon and Paolo Di Canio have also won trophies with the club.[2]

List of managers

Updated 26 October 2024.[3]

Osvaldo Ardiles was the first non-Briton to manage Swindon Town. He managed the club to the 1990 Second Division play-off final where they beat Sunderland 1-0. However, Swindon were later demoted after being found guilty of financial irregularities.[4]
Danny Wilson led Swindon Town to the 2010 League One play-off final where they lost 1-0 to Millwall.[5]
Mark Cooper led Swindon Town to the 2015 League One play-off final where they lost 4-0 to Preston North End.[6]
Phil Brown joined Swindon Town in 2018 after the sudden departure of David Flitcroft to Mansfield Town.[7]
Richie Wellens managed Swindon Town to the EFL League Two championship in 2020 via the PPG rule.[8]
Michael Flynn was appointed Swindon Town manager in May 2023.[9]
Name From To P W D L GF GA GD Win% Notes
England Sam Allen 1902 1933 1,192 508 262 422 2,083 1,770 +313 042.6
Wales Ted Vizard 1933 1939 285 108 63 114 455 481 −26 037.9
Scotland Neil Harris 1939 1940 33 10 10 13 69 73 −4 030.3
England Louis Page 1945 1953 369 135 95 139 515 570 −55 036.6
England Maurice Lindley 1953 1955 93 26 25 42 114 134 −20 028.0
England Bert Head 1956 1965 426 160 108 158 660 637 +23 037.6
England Danny Williams Jul 1965 Jul 1969 222 104 58 60 377 237 +140 046.8
England Fred Ford Jul 1969 Nov 1971 122 50 34 38 175 140 +35 041.0
Scotland Dave Mackay Nov 1971 Nov 1972 45 14 13 18 58 66 −8 031.1
England Les Allen Nov 1972 Feb 1974 62 13 20 29 61 94 −33 021.0
England Danny Williams Mar 1974 May 1978 227 87 61 79 340 328 +12 038.3
England Bobby Smith May 1978 Sep 1980 132 63 25 44 208 169 +39 047.7
England John Trollope Sep 1980 Apr 1983 121 43 33 45 161 153 +8 035.5
England Ken Beamish Apr 1983 Jun 1984 68 26 17 25 99 87 +12 038.2
Scotland Lou Macari Jul 1984 Jul 1989 285 138 67 80 449 340 +109 048.4
Argentina Ossie Ardiles Jul 1989 Mar 1991 106 40 33 33 163 140 +23 037.7
Republic of Ireland Tony Galvin* Mar 1991 Apr 1991 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 000.0
England Glenn Hoddle Apr 1991 Jul 1993 120 51 32 37 202 162 +40 042.5
Scotland John Gorman Jul 1993 Nov 1994 72 15 20 37 90 148 −58 020.8
England Andy Rowland* Nov 1994 Nov 1994 3 1 1 1 4 4 +0 033.3
England Steve McMahon Dec 1994 Sep 1998 204 75 49 80 245 277 −32 036.8
Republic of Ireland Mike Walsh* Sep 1998 Oct 1998 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 000.0
Northern Ireland Jimmy Quinn Oct 1998 May 2000 85 19 21 45 84 141 −57 022.4
England Colin Todd May 2000 Oct 2000 18 4 6 8 16 29 −13 022.2
England Andy King Oct 2000 Aug 2001 39 13 11 15 49 48 +1 033.3
England Roy Evans Aug 2001 Dec 2001 26 10 6 10 30 35 −5 038.5
England Andy King Dec 2001 Sep 2005 193 71 48 74 265 263 +2 036.8
Scotland Iffy Onuora† Sep 2005 May 2006 40 10 15 15 40 56 −16 025.0
England Dennis Wise May 2006 Oct 2006 17 9 5 3 24 14 +10 052.9 [10]
England David Tuttle* Oct 2006 Oct 2006 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !— [11]
Wales Ady Williams* Oct 2006 Nov 2006 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 000.0
Scotland Paul Sturrock Nov 2006 Nov 2007 52 26 11 15 71 51 +20 050.0
England David Byrne* Nov 2007 Jan 2008 10 3 4 3 14 17 −3 030.0
Scotland Maurice Malpas Jan 2008 Nov 2008 42 13 11 18 59 61 −2 031.0
England David Byrne* Nov 2008 Dec 2008 8 1 4 3 12 14 −2 012.5
Northern Ireland Danny Wilson Dec 2008 Mar 2011 120 43 40 37 173 160 +13 035.8
England Paul Hart Mar 2011 Apr 2011 11 1 4 6 6 12 −6 009.1
Wales Paul Bodin* Apr 2011 May 2011 2 1 0 1 2 2 +0 050.0
Italy Paolo Di Canio May 2011 Feb 2013 95 54 18 23 155 76 +79 056.8 [12]
Italy Fabrizio Piccareta* Feb 2013 Feb 2013 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 100.0
England Tommy Miller*
England Darren Ward* 		Feb 2013 Feb 2013 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 000.0
Scotland Kevin MacDonald Feb 2013 Jul 2013 14 4 5 5 20 19 +1 028.6
England Mark Cooper† Jul 2013 Oct 2015 125 52 27 46 184 179 +5 041.6 [13]
Republic of Ireland Lee Power* Oct 2015 Nov 2015 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 000.0
England Martin Ling Nov 2015 Dec 2015 9 5 0 4 14 15 −1 055.6
England Luke Williams† Dec 2015 May 2017 75 20 22 33 84 109 −25 026.7
England David Flitcroft Jun 2017 Mar 2018 42 21 3 18 71 66 +5 050.0
England Matt Taylor* Mar 2018 Mar 2018 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 000.0
England Phil Brown Mar 2018 Nov 2018 32 10 11 11 37 39 −2 031.3
England Richie Wellens Nov 2018 Nov 2020 72 32 17 23 105 86 +19 044.4
Republic of Ireland Noel Hunt* Nov 2020 Nov 2020 2 1 0 1 2 2 +0 050.0
Republic of Ireland John Sheridan Nov 2020 Apr 2021 33 8 4 21 34 60 −26 024.2
Scotland Tommy Wright* Apr 2021 May 2021 4 2 0 2 8 11 −3 050.0
England John McGreal May 2021 June 2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
England Ben Garner^ July 2021 June 2022 56 28 12 16 92 65 +27 050.0
England Scott Lindsey^ June 2022 Jan 2023 30 10 8 12 29 39 −10 033.3
Republic of Ireland Gavin Gunning*
England Steve Mildenhall* 		Jan 2023 Jan 2023 2 1 1 0 8 3 +5 050.0
England Jody Morris^ Jan 2023 May 2023 18 4 4 10 23 25 −2 022.2
Republic of Ireland Gavin Gunning*
England Steve Mildenhall* 		May 2023 May 2023 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100.0
Wales Michael Flynn May 2023 Jan 2024 33 9 9 15 57 70 −13 027.3
Republic of Ireland Gavin Gunning* Jan 2024 Apr 2024 18 5 5 8 27 29 −2 027.8
Republic of Ireland Mark Kennedy^ May 2024 Oct 2024 16 3 5 8 21 24 −3 018.8
England Marcus Bignot*
Republic of Ireland Gavin Gunning* 		Oct 2024 Oct 2024 1 0 1 0 1 1 +0 000.0
England Ian Holloway Oct 2024 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Key
* Served as caretaker manager.
† Served as caretaker manager before being appointed permanently.
‡ Appointed as Director of Football, but with responsibility for team selection.
^ Appointed as Head Coach

Managers with honours

Paolo Di Canio was manager of Swindon Town when they won the League Two title in 2012.[14]
Name Nat Tenure Honours
Sam Allen  England 1902–1933 1910 Dubonnet Cup
1911 Southern Football League
1914 Southern Football League
Danny Williams  England 1965–1969 1969 Football League Cup
Fred Ford  England 1967–1974 1969 Anglo-Italian League Cup
1970 Anglo-Italian Cup
Lou Macari  Scotland 1984–1989 1986 Fourth Division
1987 Third Division play-offs
Osvaldo Ardiles  Argentina 1988–1991 1990 Second Division play-offs
Glenn Hoddle  England 1991–1993 1993 First Division play-offs
Steve McMahon  England 1994–1998 1996 Second Division
Paolo Di Canio  Italy 2011–2013 2012 League Two
Richie Wellens  England 2018–2020 2020 League Two[15]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Swindon Town club history". Swindon Town Football Club. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Swindon Town club history". Swindon Town Football Club. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Swindon Town manager history". Soccerbase. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. ^ "In depth with Ossie Ardiles". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Millwall 1-0 Swindon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Preston North End 4-0 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Swindon appoint former Derby, Hull, Preston & Southend boss as manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  8. ^ "League One & League Two clubs vote to end seasons early". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Michael Flynn: Swindon Town appoint former Newport County and Walsall boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  10. ^ The 2006–07 League Cup game against Brentford in which Swindon lost on penalties under the management of Dennis Wise has been marked as a draw
  11. ^ Tuttle was appointed Caretaker Manager but the tenure lasted 17 hours.
  12. ^ The 2011–12 Johnstone's Paint Trophy game against AFC Wimbledon in which Swindon won on penalties under the management of Di Canio has been marked as a draw
  13. ^ The 2013–14 Johnstone's Paint Trophy games against Stevenage and Peterborough United in which Swindon won and lost on penalties respectively under the management of Cooper has been marked as draws as is the 2015–16 JPT penalty shoot-out victory over Newport County
  14. ^ "Swindon Town 5-0 Port Vale". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  15. ^ "League One & League Two clubs vote to end seasons early". BBC Sport. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.