List of Motherwell F.C. managers

Motherwell Football Club is an association football club from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They were established on 10 May 1886 following a merger between Glencairn and Alpha. They play their home games at Fir Park Stadium.

This is an official list of the managers who have managed Motherwell, and the success that they have achieved, since 1911. Before that year, a committee was involved in the management of the club. The Club's first ever manager was John 'Sailor' Hunter, who would go on to become the club's longest-serving manager. It was during his tenure that Motherwell won their first, and to date, only Premier League title, in the 1931-32 season. This was the same year that The Steelmen had their greatest ever team, scoring a record 119 league goals in one season.

George Stevenson, who succeeded Hunter as Motherwell manager, is the club's most successful manager, winning the League Cup and Scottish Cup in 9 years at Fir Park.

Managerial Performances in the League

The following lists are broken down into the level of league that Motherwell were in at the time they were league winners or runners-up. In recent times up till now, the Scottish Premier League would be classed as the 1st tier of the Scottish football league system while the Scottish First Division would be classed as the 2nd, instead of the first as had been the case.

  • First tier
Manager Winner Runner-up
John 'Sailor' Hunter 1 (1931–32) 4 (1926-27, 1929-30, 1932-33, 1933-34)
Alex McLeish 0 1 (1994-95)
Stuart McCall 0 2 (2012-13, 2013-14)
  • Second tier
Manager Winner Runner-up
George Stevenson 1 (1953–54) 0
Bobby Howitt 1 (1968–69) 0
David Hay 1 (1981–82) 0
Tommy McLean 1 (1985–86) 0

Managerial Performances in Domestic Cup Competitions

The following lists documents Motherwell's success in the two premier cup competitions in Scotland, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup, as per manager.

  • Scottish Cup
Manager Winner Runner-up
John 'Sailor' Hunter 0 3 (1930-31, 1932-33, 1938-39)
George Stevenson 1 (1951-52) 1 (1950-51)
Tommy McLean 1 (1990-91) 0
Stuart McCall 0 1 (2010-11)
Steve Robinson 0 1 (2017-18)
  • Scottish League Cup
Manager Winner Runner-up
George Stevenson 1 (1950-51) 1 (1954-55)
Terry Butcher 0 1 (2004-05)
Steve Robinson 0 1 (2017-18)

Managerial Statistics in the League

Below is the full Scottish league record of every Motherwell manager. Only league games are stated.[note 1][note 2]

As of 19 May 2024.[note 3]

Name From To Played Won Drew Lost Goals For Goals Against Win%
Scotland John Hunter[1][note 4] 1911 1946 1064 507 226 331 2073 1558 47.65
Scotland George Stevenson[2] 1946 1955 270 108 43 119 517 515 40.00
Scotland Bobby Ancell[3] 1955 1965 340 130 84 126 538 601 38.24
Scotland Bobby Howitt[4] 1965 1972 249 95 55 101 416 394 38.15
Scotland Ian St. John[5] 1972 1975 83 37 17 39 123 126 44.56
Scotland Willie McLean[6] 1975 1978 98 39 27 42 159 161 39.80
Scotland Roger Hynd[7] 1978 1979 36 5 17 24 33 86 13.89
Scotland Ally MacLeod[8] 1979 1981 78 35 22 21 124 99 44.87
Scotland David Hay[9] 1981 1982 39 26 9 4 92 36 66.66
Scotland Jock Wallace, Jr.[10] 1982 1983 36 11 5 20 39 73 30.56
Scotland Bobby Watson[11] 1983 1984 36 4 7 25 31 75 11.11
Scotland Tommy McLean[12] 1 June 1984 31 May 1994 403 123 111 169 450 528 30.52
Scotland Alex McLeish[13] 13 July 1994 10 Feb 1998 134 38 39 55 122 144 28.36
Finland Harri Kampman[14] 25 Feb 1998 4 Oct 1998 21 5 10 6 30 32 23.81
Scotland Billy Davies[15] 14 Oct 1998 18 Sept 2001 108 34 28 55 137 162 31.48
Scotland John Philliben/
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miodrag Krivokapić 		2001 2001 3 2 0 1 6 4 66.66
Scotland Eric Black[16] 16 Oct 2001 30 June 2002 27 7 4 16 24 52 25.93
England Terry Butcher[17] 24 April 2002 17 May 2006 154 47 36 71 192 232 30.52
Scotland Maurice Malpas[18] 17 May 2006 30 June 2007 35 10 7 18 38 54 26.32
Scotland Mark McGhee[19] 1 July 2007 12 June 2009 76 31 15 30 96 97 40.79
Republic of Ireland Jim Gannon[20] 1 July 2009 28 Dec 2009 17 4 8 5 21 28 23.53
Scotland Craig Brown[21] 29 Dec 2009 10 Dec 2010 35 16 8 11 52 42 45.14
Scotland Gordon Young[22] 12 Dec 2010 30 Dec 2010 3 0 0 3 2 7 00.00
Scotland Stuart McCall[23] 30 Dec 2010 2 November 2014 146 67 25 54 209 198 45.89
Scotland Kenny Black 2 November 2014 13 December 2014 4 1 1 2 4 6 25.00
England Ian Baraclough 13 December 2014 23 September 2015 32 11 5 21 33 47 34.38
Northern Ireland Stephen Craigan 23 September 2015 13 October 2015 2 1 0 1 3 3 50.00
Scotland Mark McGhee[19] 13 October 2015 28 February 2017 54 18 10 26 69 103 33.34
Northern Ireland Steve Robinson 28 February 2017 31 December 2020 137 50 26 61 163 187 36.49
Scotland Graham Alexander 7 January 2021 29 July 2022 56 19 13 21 64 81 33.92
Scotland Steven Hammell 29 July 2022 11 August 2022 2 1 0 1 2 2 50
Scotland Steven Hammell 11 August 2022 11 February 2023 22 4 5 13 25 36 18.18
Scotland Stuart Kettlewell 11 February 2023 22 February 2022 2 2 0 0 4 1 100
Scotland Stuart Kettlewell 22 February 2023 57 21 17 19 89 79 36.84

Sources

  • Jeffrey, Jim; Fry, Genge (2001). The Men Who Made Motherwell Football Club. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-2191-9.
  • Wilson, Derek (2009). Motherwell FC Miscellany. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1905411375.

Notes

  1. ^ Wilson 2009, p. 33
  2. ^ Caretaker managers are in Italics
  3. ^ All records are from Soccerbase and http://www.londonhearts.com.
  4. ^ Does not include the emergency games played as a result of the Second World War.

References

  1. ^ John 'Sailor' Hunter, Motherwell F.C. Official Website
  2. ^ "George Stevenson". Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  3. ^ Bobby Ancell
  4. ^ Bobby Howitt
  5. ^ "Ian St. John". Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  6. ^ Willie McLean
  7. ^ Roger Hynd
  8. ^ Ally McLeod
  9. ^ David Hay
  10. ^ Jock Wallace
  11. ^ Bobby Watson
  12. ^ "Tommy McLean". Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  13. ^ "Alex McLeish". Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  14. ^ Harri Kampman
  15. ^ Billy Davies
  16. ^ Eric Black
  17. ^ Terry Butcher
  18. ^ Maurice Malpas
  19. ^ a b Mark McGhee
  20. ^ Jim Gannon
  21. ^ Craig Brown
  22. ^ Gordon Young Archived 5 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Stuart McCall