List of Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers

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

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

1. 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

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. "Dario Gradi". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
7. "Steven Davis Managerial Statistics". Soccerbase. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.