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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.

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

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, Chris Coleman and Rob Page 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, starting lineup, 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).

The national team manager is tasked with the role of continuing the club like relationship between players and fans, first brought in by Gary Speed.It is now part of the “Welsh Way”, which former assistant manager, Osian Roberts brought in via the FAW Coaching Program. It is taught to numerous of former players or aspiring coaches sitting their coaching badges with the FAW.

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.

List of managers

• Caretaker manager is indicated with a (c).
• BOLD names indicates that the manager has taken the team to a FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals.

As of 19 November 2024

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	11 Apr 1956 vs  Northern Ireland	9	2	1	6	10	17	22
	Wales	Jimmy Murphy	15	1956	1964	20 Oct 1956 vs  Scotland	20 Nov 1963 vs  Scotland	43	11	13	19	59	79	26
	Wales	Trevor Morris (c)	0	1964	1964	15 Apr 1964 vs  Northern Ireland		1	0	0	1	2	3	0
	Wales	Dave Bowen	19	1964	1974	3 Oct 1964 vs  Scotland	18 May 1974 vs  Northern Ireland	53	10	13	30	49	84	20
	England	Mike Smith	N/A	1974	1979	4 Sep 1974 vs  Austria	21 Nov 1979 vs  Turkey	40	15	11	14	49	39	38
	Wales	Mike England	44	1980	1987	17 Mar 1980 vs  England	11 Nov 1987 vs  Czechoslovakia	56	21	18	17	68	52	38
	Wales	David Williams (c)	5	1988	1988	23 Mar 1988 vs  Yugoslavia		1	0	0	1	1	2	0
	Wales	Terry Yorath	59	1988	1993	27 Apr 1988 vs  Sweden	17 Nov 1993 vs  Romania	41	16	8	17	48	54	39
	Wales	John Toshack	40	1994	1994	9 Mar 1994 vs  Norway		1	0	0	1	1	3	0
	England	Mike Smith	N/A	1994	1995	20 Apr 1994 vs  Sweden	6 Sep 1995 vs  Moldova	10	3	1	6	9	19	30
	England	Bobby Gould	N/A	1995	1999	11 Oct 1995 vs  Germany	5 June 1999 vs  Italy	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  Belarus	13 Oct 2004 vs  Poland	41	11	15	15	46	49	27
	Wales	John Toshack	40	2005	2010	9 Feb 2005 vs  Hungary	3 Sep 2010 vs  Montenegro	53	22	8	23	61	56	42
	Wales	Brian Flynn (c)	66	2010	2010	8 Oct 2010 vs  Bulgaria	12 Oct 2010 vs   Switzerland	2	0	0	2	1	5	0
	Wales	Gary Speed	85	2010	2011	8 Feb 2011 v  Republic of Ireland	12 Nov 2011 v  Norway	10	5	0	5	13	13	50
	Wales	Chris Coleman	32	2012	2017	29 Feb 2012 v  Costa Rica	14 Nov 2017 v  Panama	49	19	13	17	52	56	39
	Wales	Ryan Giggs	64	2018	2022	22 Mar 2018 v  China	14 Oct 2020 v  Bulgaria	24	12	4	8	26	20	50
	Wales	Rob Page	41	2020	2024	12 Nov 2020 v  United States	9 Jun 2024 v  Slovakia	45	15	16	14	51	53	34.1
	Wales	Craig Bellamy	78	2024		6 September 2024 v  Turkey		6	3	3	0	9	5	50.0

Managers at the World Cup/European Championship 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.

• Wales national football team managers
• Lists of national association football team managers