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.

Chris Coleman was the manager of Wales from 2012 to 2017. He led the team to the UEFA Euro 2016 semi-finals.

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

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 and Chris Coleman 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 squad, the starting team, 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]

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
As of 14 October 2020
Image 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  Belgium[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 Present 22 Mar 2018 v  China PR - 24 12 4 8 26 20 50
 Wales Robert Page 41 2020 2020 12 Nov 2020 v  United States 18 Nov 2020 v  Finland 3 2 1 0 4 1 66.7

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

^ Draws also include penalties.

References
  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.
  3. "Manager's Record". WelshFootballOnline. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
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