Crewe Alexandra's top 10 best ever managers in order of win percentage (Ranked) | OneFootball

Highlights

Crewe Alexandra had a disappointing season last season upon their return to League Two after their relegation the season before, as many fans would have been hopeful that the club would challenge for play-off positions to achieve promotion back to League One at the first attempt.

Crewe parted ways with Alex Morris in November last season and replaced him with current manager Lee Bell due to a nine-game winless run. The club has decided to stick with Bell in an attempt to challenge for promotion back to League One.

The show of confidence in Bell got us thinking here at Football League World about who Cambridge’s top 10 best managers are in order of their win percentage, from lowest to highest.

Here are 10 managers who have had the best win percentage in their time in charge of the club and who have also managed more than 20 games.

10 Harry Ware – 36%

Coming in as Crewe’s tenth-best manager in terms of win percentage is Harry Ware.

Crewe would be the only professional club that Ware would manage. Ware would have a decent two seasons in charge of the club, as he guided the club to two mid-table finishes in the old Fourth Division.

Ware would leave the club to join Stoke City as an assistant manager in May 1960. During Ware’s two seasons in charge, he would manage 100 games, winning 36, giving him a win percentage of 36%.

9 David Artell – 36.5%

David Artell was appointed manager in January 2017 with the task of saving the club from dropping out of the Football League. Artell would succeed in saving the club from that potentiality.

The former Gibraltar international would guide the club to two mid-table finishes in the following two seasons.

However, the club would gain promotion to League One in the 2019/20 season. The club was promoted on a points-per-game system following the cancellation of leagues due to the pandemic.

Crewe would finish mid-table in their first season back in League One under Artell’s leadership. However, the following season, Artell was unable to save the club from relegation, as they were relegated after an abysmal performance. This would see him lose his job in April 2022 and be replaced by Morris.

Artell would manage a total of 274 matches, winning 100, giving him a win percentage of 36.5%.

8 Ernie Tagg – 36.8%

Ernie Tagg had two spells as manager at Crewe. Crewe was a major part of Tagg’s life, as he spent over 25 years involved with the daily running of the club following his return to the club in the early 1950s.

Tagg would first be appointed manager in 1964 and would be in charge until 1971. Tagg would achieve promotion in 1968 from the old Fourth Division but would suffer relegation immediately the following season.

Tagg would take over as manager again in January 1974 following a poor start to the 1973/74 season, and he would ensure they suffered relegation from the old Fourth Division.

Tagg would step down in January 1975, having won a total of 118 in 321 matches, giving him a win percentage of 36.8%.

7 Dario Gradi – 37.2%

Dario Gradi had been manager of Crewe on four separate occasions, with his first being from June 1983 until July 2007.

In his first spell as manager, he would bring the club to the highest division they ever reached, the old First Division, or the Championship when it was renamed. When he left the club, it was back in League One.

During his next three spells at Crewe, he would leave the club with it sitting in League Two.

Gradi would manage 1359 matches, winning 505, giving him a win percentage of 37.2%.

However, since 2016, Gradi has lost his MBE and been suspended from football activity due to his failure to ensure safeguarding for many young players in the investigation into child abuse among some coaches and staff that were at football clubs, including Chelsea and Crewe.

6 Arthur Turner – 37.6%

Arthur Turner was appointed manager in October 1948, after Frank Hill decided to become manager of Burnley.

Turner would be manager of the club for three seasons while the club was in the old Third Division North. Every finish he would achieve would be a mid-table finish, a decent performance for the club.

Turner would leave the club to become the assistant manager at Stoke City.

Turner would win 56 of the 149 matches, giving him a win percentage of 37.6%.

5 Tom Bailey – 38.6%

Tom Bailey was appointed manager before many fans will remember him as he joined the club in August 1925.

Bailey would manage the club until August 1938, and during this time, he would win two Welsh Cups and keep the club in the old Third Division North.

Bailey has a win percentage of 38.6%, having won 223 of the 578 matches he was in charge of.

4 Jimmy McGuigan – 39.2%

Jimmy McGuigan was a player at the club for six years during the 1950s before he would rejoin the club as a coach in 1959, before being appointed manager in 1960.

The Scottish manager would guide the club to promotion from the old Fourth Division in 1963/64, before he would be removed as manager early into their campaign in the old Third Division as the Railwaymen struggled in the higher division.

McGuigan would lead the club in 222 fixtures, winning 87, giving him a win percentage of 39.2%.

3 Henry Catterick – 41.9%

One of Bill Shankly’s biggest rivals, when he was Everton manager, would start out his management career with Crewe as a player-manager.

He was put in charge of the squad in December 1951 and would be in charge until June 1953.

His time at the club was uneventful, as he competed in the old Third Division North throughout his tenure. His stewardship saw him win 31 of the 74 matches he was in charge of, giving him a win percentage of 41.9%.

2 Frank Hill – 44.1%

Frank Hill was brought in as manager of Crewe just a few weeks following the successful D-Day landing.

Hill would manage the club for 102 matches, winning 45 in his tenure from July 1944 until September 1948. This managerial career came after he returned from India after serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

His time as manager was uneventful, as he would lead the club to two top-half finishes in the old Third Division North.

1 George Lillycrop – 44.4%

George Lillycrop is the best manager Crewe has ever had in terms of win percentage.

Lillycrop would be the predecessor to Hill becoming manager of the Railwaymen. He would only get one full season in charge of the club before the outbreak of World War Two.

Despite being in charge for six years, he would manage only 45 matches, winning 20 of them, giving him a win percentage of 44.4%.