Up until Peter Hodge was hired after World War I, Leicester City had no official manager. A nominal role of secretary/manager was employed, though the board and the selection committee took control of most team affairs. It was Hodge who instated a system at the club for the manager having complete control over player and staff recruitment, team selection and tactics. Though Hodge was originally also titled "secretary/manager" he has retrospectively been named as the club's first official "manager". [1]
The current manager of Leicester City is Ruud van Nistelrooy. [2] Former managers Nigel Pearson and Peter Hodge have both had two separate spells at the club, Dave Bassett also had a second spell as caretaker manager after his spell as permanent manager. Listed below is Leicester's complete managerial history. [3]
This is the full list with dates of tenure and records while at the club. [1]
| Name | Nat. | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Gardner | 1884–1892 | |
| Ernest Marson | 1892–1894 | |
| J. Lee | 1894–1895 | |
| Henry Jackson | 1895–1897 | |
| William Clark | 1897–1898 | |
| George Johnson | 1898–1912 | |
| John W. Bartlett | 1912–1914 | |
| Louis Ford | 1914–1915 | |
| Harry Linney | 1915–1919 |
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Hodge | 6 September 1919 | May 1926 | 310 | 125 | 84 | 101 | 40.32 | Second Division champions: 1924–25 | |
| Willie Orr | July 1926 | January 1932 | 242 | 102 | 50 | 90 | 42.15 | First Division runners-up: 1928–29 | |
| Board | January 1932 | March 1932 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20.00 | ||
| Peter Hodge | March 1932 | 1 August 1934 | 100 | 34 | 26 | 40 | 34.00 | ||
| Board | 1 August 1934 | 17 October 1934 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 20.00 | ||
| Arthur Lochhead | 17 October 1934 | 2 September 1936 | 81 | 33 | 15 | 33 | 40.74 | ||
| Board | 2 September 1936 | October 1936 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12.50 | ||
| Frank Womack | October 1936 | May 1939 | 123 | 48 | 29 | 46 | 39.02 | Second Division champions: 1936–37 | |
| Tom Bromilow | August 1939 | May 1945 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | ||
| Tom Mather | August 1945 | March 1946 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 00.00 | ||
| Johnny Duncan | March 1946 | 11 October 1949 | 156 | 56 | 42 | 58 | 35.90 | FA Cup runners-up: 1948–49 | |
| Board | 11 October 1949 | December 1949 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14.29 | ||
| Norman Bullock | December 1949 | February 1955 | 232 | 91 | 64 | 77 | 39.22 | Second Division champions: 1953–54 | |
| Board | February 1955 | May 1955 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 46.67 | ||
| Dave Halliday | June 1955 | November 1958 | 146 | 64 | 27 | 55 | 43.84 | Second Division champions: 1956–57 | |
| Matt Gillies | 8 November 1958 | 30 November 1968 | 508 | 201 | 123 | 184 | 39.57 | FA Cup runners-up: 1960–61 FA Cup runners-up: 1962–63 League Cup winners: 1963–64 League Cup runners-up: 1964–65 | |
| Frank O'Farrell | December 1968 | 6 June 1971 | 134 | 62 | 27 | 55 | 46.27 | FA Cup runners-up: 1968–69 Second Division champions: 1970–71 | |
| Jimmy Bloomfield | 23 June 1971 | 23 May 1977 | 285 | 85 | 104 | 96 | 29.82 | FA Charity Shield winners: 1971 | |
| Frank McLintock | 9 June 1977 | 5 April 1978 | 40 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 12.50 | ||
| Ian MacFarlane | 5 April 1978 | 24 May 1978 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20.00 | ||
| Jock Wallace | 24 May 1978 | 12 July 1982 | 189 | 69 | 51 | 69 | 37.10 | Second Division champions: 1979–80 | |
| Gordon Milne | 2 August 1982 | 3 June 1986 | 184 | 64 | 41 | 79 | 34.78 | Second Division promotion: 1982–83 | |
| Gordon Milne Bryan Hamilton | June 1986 | May 1987 | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 28.26 | ||
| Bryan Hamilton | May 1987 | 11 December 1987 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 37.04 | ||
| David Pleat | 24 December 1987 | 29 January 1991 | 157 | 49 | 45 | 63 | 31.21 | ||
| Gordon Lee | 30 January 1991 | 29 May 1991 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 35.00 | ||
| Brian Little | 30 May 1991 | 22 November 1994 | 188 | 81 | 45 | 62 | 43.09 | First Division promotion: 1993–94 | |
| Kevin MacDonald Tony McAndrew | 22 November 1994 | 14 December 1994 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 00.00 | ||
| Mark McGhee | 14 December 1994 | 7 December 1995 | 51 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 31.37 | ||
| David Nish Chris Turner Garry Parker Steve Walsh | 7 December 1995 | 21 December 1995 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | ||
| Martin O'Neill | 21 December 1995 | 1 June 2000 | 222 | 85 | 67 | 70 | 38.29 | First Division promotion: 1995–96 League Cup winners: 1996–97 League Cup runners-up: 1998–99 League Cup winners: 1999–2000 | |
| Peter Taylor | 12 June 2000 | 30 September 2001 | 54 | 19 | 9 | 26 | 35.19 | ||
| Garry Parker | 30 September 2001 | 10 October 2001 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 00.00 | ||
| Dave Bassett | 10 October 2001 | 6 April 2002 | 28 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 14.29 | ||
| Micky Adams | 7 April 2002 | 11 October 2004 | 111 | 41 | 38 | 32 | 36.94 | First Division promotion: 2002–03 | |
| Dave Bassett Howard Wilkinson | 11 October 2004 | 30 October 2004 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 00.00 | ||
| Craig Levein | 1 November 2004 | 25 January 2006 | 70 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 28.57 | ||
| Rob Kelly | 13 February 2006 | 11 April 2007 | 63 | 21 | 19 | 23 | 33.33 | ||
| Nigel Worthington | 11 April 2007 | 7 May 2007 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40.00 | ||
| Martin Allen | 25 May 2007 | 29 August 2007 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 | ||
| Jon Rudkin Steve Beaglehole Mike Stowell | 30 August 2007 | 13 September 2007 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 00.00 | ||
| Gary Megson | 13 September 2007 | 24 October 2007 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 33.33 | ||
| Frank Burrows Gerry Taggart | 24 October 2007 | 22 November 2007 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 20.00 | ||
| Ian Holloway | 22 November 2007 | 23 May 2008 | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 28.13 | ||
| Nigel Pearson | 22 June 2008 | 29 June 2010 | 107 | 55 | 30 | 22 | 51.40 | League One champions: 2008–09 | |
| Paulo Sousa | 7 July 2010 | 1 October 2010 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 33.33 | ||
| Chris Powell Mike Stowell | 1 October 2010 | 4 October 2010 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Sven-Göran Eriksson | 4 October 2010 | 24 October 2011 | 55 | 24 | 14 | 17 | 43.64 | ||
| Jon Rudkin Steve Beaglehole Mike Stowell | 24 October 2011 | 15 November 2011 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33.33 | ||
| Nigel Pearson | 15 November 2011 | 30 June 2015 | 175 | 80 | 37 | 58 | 45.71 | Championship champions: 2013–14 | |
| Claudio Ranieri | 13 July 2015 | 23 February 2017 | 81 | 36 | 22 | 23 | 44.44 | Premier League champions: 2015–16 | |
| Craig Shakespeare | 23 February 2017 | 17 October 2017 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 42.31 | ||
| Michael Appleton | 17 October 2017 | 25 October 2017 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Claude Puel | 25 October 2017 | 24 February 2019 | 67 | 23 | 18 | 26 | 34.33 | ||
| Mike Stowell Adam Sadler | 24 February 2019 | 26 February 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Brendan Rodgers | 26 February 2019 | 2 April 2023 | 204 | 92 | 42 | 70 | 45.10 | FA Cup winners: 2020–21 FA Community Shield winners: 2021 | |
| Mike Stowell Adam Sadler | 2 April 2023 | 10 April 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 00.00 | ||
| Dean Smith | 10 April 2023 | 16 June 2023 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 25.00 | ||
| Enzo Maresca | 16 June 2023 | 3 June 2024 | 53 | 36 | 4 | 13 | 67.92 | Championship champions: 2023–24 | |
| Steve Cooper | 20 June 2024 | 24 November 2024 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 20.00 | ||
| Ben Dawson | 24 November 2024 | 1 December 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 00.00 | ||
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 1 December 2024 | 27 June 2025 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 15.79 | ||
This table lists the Leicester manager by nationality. Includes permanent managers and secretary/manager only.
| Nationality | Number |
|---|---|
| 26 | |
| 12 | |
| 5 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 |