Wales national football team manager

The role of a Wales national football team manager was first established in 1876, when the Wales national football team was established, and the team was chosen by a panel of selectors. The team captain would at that point fulfil the role of match day coach. Since 1954 a manager has been appointed by the Football Association of Wales.

Thirteen men have occupied the post since its inception; four more acted in short-term caretaker manager roles: Brian Flynn (two games in charge), Trevor Morris (one game), David Williams (one game), and Neville Southall (one game), alongside Mark Hughes.

The longest serving manager is Dave Bowen, who was manager for ten years before leaving in 1974. Bowen was in charge of the team for fifty-three games, winning ten. However, his win percentage of 20% is the lowest of all Wales managers. The most successful manager in terms of wins was John Toshack. Wales has never had a non-British manager but Mike Smith became the first English manager to lead Wales in 1974.

Jimmy Murphy, Chris Coleman and Rob Page are the only managers to have taken the team to any FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals. Murphy led his team to the 1958 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Brazil. Coleman led his team to the UEFA Euro 2016 semi-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Portugal. Under Coleman, Wales peaked at eighth in the FIFA world rankings.

Position

Role

The Wales manager's role means he has sole responsibility for all on-the-field elements of the Wales team. Among other activities, this includes selecting the national team, starting lineup, captain, tactics, substitutes, and penalty-takers. Before 1954 a "panel of selectors" would manage all issues barring the actual match day team selection, formation, and tactics, which was left to the head coach for the event.

The manager is given a free hand in selecting his coaching ("back room") staff. The Wales manager may also involve himself in wider issues beyond the on-the-field team issues. On a more tactical level, a host of other details can be influenced. For example, current manager Ryan Giggs was given the choice by the FAW Chief Executive of whether to play fixtures at the team's current ground (the Cardiff City Stadium) or its previous venue (the Millennium Stadium).^[1]

The national team manager is tasked with the role of continuing the club like relationship between players and fans, first brought in by Gary Speed.It is now part of the “Welsh Way”, which former assistant manager, Osian Roberts brought in via the FAW Coaching Program. It is taught to numerous of former players or aspiring coaches sitting their coaching badges with the FAW.

Appointment

The current process of appointing a new Wales manager is through an FAW panel, consisting of the CEO and six members of the board.^[2]

List of managers

Caretaker manager is indicated with a (c).
BOLD names indicates that the manager has taken the team to a FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals.

As of 14 October 2024

Nationality	Name	Player caps	Start year	End year	First game	Final game	Pld	Wins	Draws	Loss	Goals for	Goals against	Win %
Wales	Walley Barnes	22	1954	1956	9 May 1954 vs Austria^[3]	11 Apr 1956 vs Northern Ireland^[3]	9	2	1	6	10	17	22
Wales	Jimmy Murphy	15	1956	1964	20 Oct 1956 vs Scotland^[3]	20 Nov 1963 vs Scotland^[3]	43	11	13	19	59	79	26
Wales	Trevor Morris (c)	0	1964	1964	15 Apr 1964 vs Northern Ireland^[3]		1	0	0	1	2	3	0
Wales	Dave Bowen	19	1964	1974	3 Oct 1964 vs Scotland^[3]	18 May 1974 vs Northern Ireland^[3]	53	10	13	30	49	84	20
England	Mike Smith	N/A	1974	1979	4 Sep 1974 vs Austria^[3]	21 Nov 1979 vs Turkey^[3]	40	15	11	14	49	39	38
Wales	Mike England	44	1980	1987	17 Mar 1980 vs England^[3]	11 Nov 1987 vs Czechoslovakia^[3]	56	21	18	17	68	52	38
Wales	David Williams (c)	5	1988	1988	23 Mar 1988 vs Yugoslavia^[3]		1	0	0	1	1	2	0
Wales	Terry Yorath	59	1988	1993	27 Apr 1988 vs Sweden^[3]	17 Nov 1993 vs Romania^[3]	41	16	8	17	48	54	39
Wales	John Toshack	40	1994	1994	9 Mar 1994 vs Norway^[3]		1	0	0	1	1	3	0
England	Mike Smith	N/A	1994	1995	20 Apr 1994 vs Sweden^[3]	6 Sep 1995 vs Moldova^[3]	10	3	1	6	9	19	30
England	Bobby Gould	N/A	1995	1999	11 Oct 1995 vs Germany^[3]	5 June 1999 vs Italy^[3]	24	7	4	13	32	47	29
Wales Wales	Mark Hughes & Neville Southall (c)	72 92	1999	1999	9 June 1999 vs Denmark		1	0	0	1	1	2	0
Wales	Mark Hughes	72	1999	2004	4 Sep 1999 vs Belarus^[3]	13 Oct 2004 vs Poland^[3]	41	11	15	15	46	49	27
Wales	John Toshack	40	2005	2010	9 Feb 2005 vs Hungary^[3]	3 Sep 2010 vs Montenegro^[3]	53	22	8	23	61	56	42
Wales	Brian Flynn (c)	66	2010	2010	8 Oct 2010 vs Bulgaria^[3]	12 Oct 2010 vs Switzerland^[3]	2	0	0	2	1	5	0
Wales	Gary Speed	85	2010	2011	8 Feb 2011 v Republic of Ireland^[3]	12 Nov 2011 v Norway^[3]	10	5	0	5	13	13	50
Wales	Chris Coleman	32	2012	2017	29 Feb 2012 v Costa Rica^[3]	14 Nov 2017 v Panama^[3]	49	19	13	17	52	56	39
Wales	Ryan Giggs	64	2018	2022	22 Mar 2018 v China	14 Oct 2020 v Bulgaria	24	12	4	8	26	20	50
Wales	Rob Page	41	2020	2024	12 Nov 2020 v United States	9 Jun 2024 v Slovakia	45	15	16	14	51	53	34.1
Wales	Craig Bellamy	78	2024		6 September 2024 v Turkey		4	2	2	0	5	3	50.0

Managers at the World Cup/European Championship finals

Final	Manager	Pld	Win(s)	Draw(s)^	Loss(s)	Goals for	Goals against	Position
1958 Sweden	Jimmy Murphy	5	1	3	1	4	4	Quarter-finals
2016 France	Chris Coleman	6	4	0	2	10	6	Semi-finals
2020 Europe	Rob Page	4	1	1	2	3	6	Round of 16
2022 Qatar	Rob Page	3	0	1	2	1	6	Group stage

^ Draws also include penalties.

References

^ "Ryan Giggs: FAW say new boss will decide where Wales play home games". BBC Sport. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
^ "FAW chief Jonathan Ford will not face any action over 'English' comment". BBC Sport. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac "Manager's Record". WelshFootballOnline. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.

[1] "Ryan Giggs: FAW say new boss will decide where Wales play home games". BBC Sport. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

[2] "FAW chief Jonathan Ford will not face any action over 'English' comment". BBC Sport. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

[managers-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac "Manager's Record". WelshFootballOnline. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.

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