Birmingham City Football Club, an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham, was founded in 1875. When league football began, the first teamthen playing under the name Small Heathcompeted in the Football Alliance before being elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League in 1892. At that point, club secretary Alf Jonesits first paid officialassumed some of what are now seen as managerial responsibilities.
There have been 41 full-time managers: the most recent appointee, Wayne Rooney, arrived in October 2023. Bob McRoberts was appointed in 1911 as Birmingham's first manager whose role did not include secretarial duties. George Liddell has had the longest tenure, of six years and two months (267 matches) in the 1930s, while Trevor Francis has managed the team for most matches: 290 over five years and five months between 1996 and 2001. All three formerly played for the club. Under Arthur Turner, Birmingham won the 1954–55 Second Division title, followed up with what remains the team's highest league finish, sixth place in the 1955–56 First Division, and reached the 1956 FA Cup Final. Gil Merrick in 1963 and Alex McLeish in 2011 oversaw League Cup wins and Barry Fry led his team to a "double" of third-tier title and Football League Trophy in 1994–95.
All managers who have taken charge of at least one competitive match are listed below. Each manager's entry includes his dates of tenure and the club's overall competitive record (in terms of matches won, drawn and lost), honours won and significant achievements while under his care. Caretaker managers are also included, where known, as well as those who have been in permanent charge.
History
In the early days, team management was undertaken by a club committee. When payment of players was legalised in 1885, Alf Jones began to act as club secretary on a voluntary basis. Small Heath's election to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League in 1892 prompted the board of directors to appoint him as the club's first paid official, responsible as secretary-manager for matters on the field in addition to his administrative duties. In his first season the club won the inaugural Second Division championship, and gained promotion to the First Division for the first time the following year via the Test Match system. Jones's 16-year tenure saw three promotions and three relegations, after the last of which in 1908 he resigned. The second of Alex Watson's three seasons in charge ended with the club having to apply for re-election to the league, and in 1911, responsibility for team affairs passed to former player Bob McRoberts, who became the club's first dedicated team manager.
Frank Richards succeeded Watson as club secretary in 1911, and when the First World War broke out he took over the managerial reins as well. Under Richards Birmingham won the Second Division title in 1921 and signed players such as Joe Bradford, Johnny Crosbie and Dan Tremelling who did much to keep the club in the top flight through the 1920s. He also forgot to enter them in the 1922 FA Cup. Billy Beer and Bill Harvey kept them in the First Division, albeit in the lower half of the table, before former Arsenal manager Leslie Knighton took charge in 1928. He led them to their first FA Cup final in 1931 and a top-half league finish the following year, but left when Chelsea made him an offer Birmingham were unable to match. Former Birmingham defender George Liddell kept them in the top tier until they were relegated in the last season completed before the Second World War, resigning in September 1939 when league football was suspended. His tenure of just over six years made him the club's longest-serving team manager.