Oxford United F.C. - Managerial History

Managerial History

The first manager appointed was Harry Thompson in July 1949, soon after the club turned professional. In a nine-year spell he led the team to the Southern League title in 1953, as well as the Southern League Cup in 1953 and 1954. He was replaced by Arthur Turner in 1958, who would become the longest-serving manager in the club's history, serving more than a decade in charge. Turner led United to back-to-back Southern League titles, of which the second, in 1962, resulted in their election to the Football League. Promotion followed from the Fourth Division in 1965, and the club were crowned Third Division champions three years later. Turner left the club nine months after this success. Over the next thirteen years, five managers took charge. Ron Saunders was in charge for only a dozen games, moving to Norwich City at the end of the 1968–69 season. Gerry Summers was manager for six years, before being replaced by Mick Brown. During Brown's four-year run, United were relegated back to the Third Division after spending eight years in the Second.

Jim Smith started his first spell as manager in 1981, and led Oxford into the top tier of English football after consecutive promotions as champions in 1984 and 1985. However, he moved to Queens Park Rangers before the 1985–86 season. New manager, former chief scout Maurice Evans, had immediate success winning the 1986 League Cup, beating his predecessor's new club in the final. For the next 24 years, the only manager to guide the club to promotion was Denis Smith, who won promotion from the Second Division in 1996. Ramón Díaz, the club's first and only non-British manager, took charge for five months between December 2004 and May 2005. Jim Smith returned as manager in 2006, the year that Oxford United were relegated to the Football Conference after 44 years in the Football League. Having missed out on promotion in the 2006–07 season, Smith resigned and Darren Patterson was hired on 9 November 2007. Patterson was sacked over a year later and was replaced by Chris Wilder, who lead the club back into the Football League by winning the 2010 Conference playoff Final. Since turning professional, the club has had 21 full-time managers, of whom three (Jim Smith, Denis Smith and Darren Patterson) have had more than one spell in the post, and eight periods of caretaker-management.