List of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers
Name Nationality Bristol Rovers career Games Won Drawn Lost % won Honours
Alfred Homer England 1899 Summer 1899 - July 1920 652 243 148 261 37.3 Southern League champions , 3 Gloucestershire Cups
Ben Hall England 1920 July 1920 - May 1921 45 19 7 19 42.2 -
Andrew Wilson Scotland 1921 June 1921 - April 1926 230 74 64 92 32.2 Gloucestershire Cup winner
Joe Palmer England 1926 May 1926 - April 1929 138 48 22 68 34.8 Gloucestershire Cup winner
David McLean Scotland 1929 May 1929 - September 1930 58 16 12 30 27.6 -
Albert Prince-Cox England 1930 October 1930 - October 1936 295 115 67 113 39.0 Division 3 South Cup winner , 2 Gloucestershire Cups
Percy Smith England 1936 November 1936 - November 1937 52 17 9 26 32.7 -
Brough Fletcher England 1938 January 1938 - January 1950 227 80 49 98 35.2 3 Gloucestershire Cups
Bert Tann England 1950 January 1950 - April 1968 897 369 216 314 41.1 Division 3 South champions , Gloucestershire Cups : won 5 , shared 5
Fred Ford England 1968 April 1968 - July 1969 70 26 16 28 37.1 -
Bill Dodgin Sr England 1969 August 1969 - July 1972 163 72 47 44 44.2 -
Don Megson England 1972 July 1972 - November 1977 269 91 85 93 33.8 Watney Cup winner , 2 Gloucestershire Cups , promotion to Division 2
Bobby Campbell Scotland 1977 November 1977 - December 1979 91 32 19 40 35.2 -
Harold Jarman England 1979 December 1979 - April 1980 24 7 9 8 29.2 -
Terry Cooper England 1980 April 1980 - October 1981 68 13 19 36 19.1 -
Ron Gingell ( caretaker ) England 1981 ( 1 ) October 1981 1 0 1 0 0.0 -
Bobby Gould England 1981 ( 2 ) October 1981 - May 1983 May 1985 - June 1987 196 71 42 83 36.2 2 Gloucestershire Cups
David Williams Wales 1983 May 1983 - May 1985 108 51 28 29 47.2 2 Gloucestershire Cups
Gerry Francis England 1987 July 1987 - May 1991 July 2001 - December 2001 240 95 72 73 39.6 Division 3 champions , 2 Gloucestershire Cups
Martin Dobson England 1991 ( 1 ) July 1991 - October 1991 12 1 2 9 8.3 -
Managers
All statistics are from Bristol Rovers Football Club – The Definitive History 1883–2003 unless otherwise stated . Information correct as of 11 March 2020
This is a list of Bristol Rovers F.C. managers since the club appointed its first full-time manager in 1899, along with the number of competitive games managed, winning percentage and titles won. Although the club were founded in 1883, they did not appoint a full-time manager until 1899, when Alfred Homer, who was assistant secretary of Aston Villa, was appointed as manager-secretary of Bristol Rovers, a position he held for twenty-one years. On joining the Football League in 1920, the club appointed Ben Hall to the manager's post. Hall held the job for one year before handing over to Andrew Wilson, the club's first non-English manager. The next significant manager of Bristol Rovers was Albert Prince-Cox, who introduced blue-and-white quarters as the team's kit because he believed it made the players look larger and more intimidating. He also became the first manager to win a major cup competition with the club when they won the Division 3 (South) Cup in 1935. More success followed in the 1952-53 season when Bristol Rovers' longest serving post-war manager, Bert Tann, won a league title for the first time since 1905 and won promotion for the first time ever when the club won Division 3 (South). Tann remained in charge for eighteen years from 1950 to 1968. Don Megson was the next manager to win a major trophy, taking the Watney Cup in 1972 in only his third game in charge. Following this, only two more managers won any silverware at a national level. These were Gerry Francis, who won the Division 3 title in 1989-90, and most recently Paul Trollope, who won the League 2 play-off final in 2007.