List of Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers

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Lee Bell, current manager of Crewe Alexandra, applauding travelling supporters at Sutton United on 4 March 2023.

This is a list of former and current managers of Crewe Alexandra Football Club. Since 1892, 29 men have managed Crewe; Ernie Tagg had two spells in charge, and Dario Gradi four (including one spell co-managing with Steve Holland). Gradi holds the record for the most games: 1,359 first team games.[1]

Two Crewe managers have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame: Gradi in 2004[2] and Harry Catterick, posthumously, in 2010.[3]

Managers

[edit]
Key
  • Names of caretaker managers are supplied where known, and periods of caretaker-management are highlighted in italics and marked †
  • P = matches played; W = matches won; D = matches drawn; L = matches lost; Win % = win percentage
  • Win percentage is rounded to two decimal places
  • Statistics are complete up to and including the match played on 19 August 2025
Name Nationality From To P W D L Win% Honours Notes
W.C. McNeill[a]  England August 1892 May 1894 50 12 10 28 024.00
J.G. Hall[a]  England August 1895 May 1896 31 5 3 23 016.13
Robert Roberts[a]  Wales January 1897 December 1897 0 0 0 0 !—
John B. Blomerley[b]  England January 1898 May 1925 169 56 44 69 033.14 4 Cheshire Senior Cups
Tom Bailey[a]  England August 1925 May 1938 578 223 113 242 038.58 2 Welsh Cups
George Lillycrop  England August 1938 July 1944 45 20 7 18 044.44
Frank Hill  Scotland July 1944 October 1948 102 45 19 38 044.12
Arthur Turner  England October 1948 December 1951 149 56 39 54 037.58
Harry Catterick  England December 1951 June 1953 74 31 11 32 041.89
Ralph Ward  England June 1953 May 1955 96 25 28 43 026.04
Maurice Lindley  England August 1955 May 1958 143 23 28 92 016.08
Harry Ware  England August 1958 May 1960 100 36 22 42 036.00
Jimmy McGuigan  Scotland June 1960 November 1964 222 87 85 50 039.19
Ernie Tagg  England November 1964 October 1970 273 105 69 99 038.46
Tom McAnearney  Scotland October 1970 July 1971 39 15 9 15 038.46
Dennis Viollet  England August 1971 November 1971 15 4 2 9 026.67
Jimmy Melia  England May 1972 December 1973 70 16 23 31 022.86
Ernie Tagg  England January 1974 December 1974 48 13 12 23 027.08
Harry Gregg  Northern Ireland January 1975 May 1978 163 53 53 57 032.52
Warwick Rimmer  England August 1978 May 1979 46 6 14 26 013.04
Tony Waddington  England June 1979 July 1981 93 24 27 42 025.81
Arfon Griffiths  Wales August 1981 October 1982 59 9 10 40 015.25
Peter Morris  England November 1982 June 1983 33 8 7 18 024.24
Dario Gradi[6][c]  England June 1983 July 2007 1,241 464 476 301 037.39 2 Cheshire Senior Cups
1 Second Division play-off
Dario Gradi[d]
Steve Holland[e] 		 England
 England 		July 2007 November 2008 72 19 16 37 026.39
Dario Gradi[6] †  England November 2008 December 2008 8 3 1 4 037.50
Guðjón Þórðarson  Iceland December 2008 October 2009 37 12 7 18 032.43
Dario Gradi[6]  England October 2009 November 2011 110 38 23 49 034.55 2 Cheshire Premier Cups
Steve Davis  England November 2011 January 2017 272 84 71 117 030.88 1 League Trophy
1 League Two play-off 		[7]
David Artell  Gibraltar January 2017 April 2022 274 100 51 123 036.50
Alex Morris  England April 2022 November 2022 24 5 9 10 020.83
Lee Bell  England November 2022 Present 146 54 43 49 036.99

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d secretary-manager
  2. ^ John Bradburn Blomerley (also among the club's first directors in 1899,[4] and, in 1902, chairman of the Cheshire F.A.)[5] was secretary-manager to 1911; honorary secretary to 1925
  3. ^ As sole manager. Between 22 September and 17 October 2003, Gradi underwent heart surgery. Assistant manager Neil Baker took charge of the team for this period (P6, W0, D1, L5).
  4. ^ As technical director
  5. ^ As first team coach

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Crewe Alexandra managers". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Hall of Fame: Dario Gradi". National Football Museum. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Everton FC legend Harry Catterick will gain Hall of Fame recognition at last". Liverpool Echo. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ^ Memorandum of Association of the Crewe Alexandra Football Club Company Limited, signed 29 May 1899. Companies House. Retrieved: 22 September 2021
  5. ^ "Football: Chester and District Association Annual Dinner". Cheshire Observer. 14 June 1902. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Dario Gradi". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Steven Davis Managerial Statistics". Soccerbase. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.