This clear and accessible book is the first in-depth history of the role of the football manager in British football, tracing a path from Victorian-era amateurism to the highly paid motivational specialists and media personalities of the twenty-first century.

Using original source materials, the book traces the changing character and function of the football manager, covering:

the origins of football management – club secretaries and early pioneers

the impact of post-war social change – the advent of the football business

television and the new commercialism

contemporary football – specialisation and the influence of foreign managers and management practices

the future of football management.

The Football Manager fully explores the historical context of these changes. It examines the influence of Britain’s traditionally pragmatic and hierarchical business management culture on British football, and in doing so provides a new and broader perspective on a unique management role and a unique way of life.