W. E. Barclay & John McKenna
Liverpool's first managerial partnership guided the new club into the Football League.
1892 to the present
The managers timeline
Liverpool’s permanent first-team managers on a scrollable chronology. Select a card for context, or change to the full list.
What the timeline shows
Liverpool's managerial history is not a single sequence of equivalent jobs. Early secretary-manager partnerships, long-serving interwar managers, the Boot Room succession and the modern head-coach structure carried different responsibilities. The timeline preserves separate appointments and the 1998 joint arrangement rather than forcing every tenure into one model.
The strongest period of internal succession ran from Shankly through Paisley and Fagan to Dalglish, but continuity depended on squad renewal and individual decisions. Later appointments were increasingly external. Use the directory for sourced profiles and the era guides for the institutional context behind each transition.
Record scope: permanent men's first-team appointments and the historically significant Evans–Houllier joint spell. Current through 29 July 2026.
Tom Watson
Liverpool's first long-serving manager won the championships of 1901 and 1906.
David Ashworth
Ashworth rebuilt after the First World War and led most of the 1921–22 title campaign.
Matt McQueen
McQueen completed the 1922–23 championship and later served the club administratively.
George Patterson
Patterson oversaw a long interwar spell in the First Division.
George Kay
Kay led Liverpool to the first post-war league championship in 1946–47.
Don Welsh
Welsh managed through relegation in 1954 and the first attempts to return.
Phil Taylor
Taylor's final season preceded Bill Shankly's appointment.
Bill Shankly
Shankly rebuilt Liverpool, winning promotion, three league titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup.
Bob Paisley
Paisley won six league titles and three European Cups in nine seasons.
Joe Fagan
Fagan's first season produced the league, League Cup and European Cup treble.
Kenny Dalglish
Dalglish won three league titles and two FA Cups in his first managerial spell.
Graeme Souness
Souness won the 1992 FA Cup during a difficult early Premier League transition.
Roy Evans
Evans' attacking Liverpool won the 1995 League Cup.
Roy Evans & Gérard Houllier
A short joint-manager arrangement preceded Houllier taking sole charge.
Gérard Houllier
Houllier led Liverpool to the 2001 League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup treble.
Rafael Benítez
Benítez won the 2005 European Cup and 2006 FA Cup.
Roy Hodgson
Hodgson's brief tenure covered the first half of 2010–11.
Kenny Dalglish
Dalglish returned and won the 2012 League Cup.
Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers took Liverpool to second place with 101 league goals in 2013–14.
Jürgen Klopp
Klopp won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.
Arne Slot
Slot delivered Liverpool's twentieth English league title in his first season.
Andoni Iraola
Iraola was appointed head coach ahead of the 2026–27 season; the end year is an open timeline display bound, not a completed tenure.
W. E. Barclay & John McKenna
Tenure highlight