Ranking Stoke City's top 7 best managers based on PPG - Gudjon Thordarson = 2nd | OneFootball

Stoke City have had 39 different permanent managers since the club was officially formed in 1863.

The Potters have been graced by some brilliant bosses in their time, with notable figures such as Tony Waddington and Tony Pulis helping the club to win trophies and promotions during their tenures.

Neither legendary boss figures in this list though - with both just missing out despite being widely regarded as the two best Potters managers of all time.

With that in mind, here at Football League World we have ranked the top seven Stoke managers of all-time by points-per-game, according to the official club website, and using three points for a win for all games before 1981.

7 Alan Durban - 1.44 PPG

Alan Durban kick-starts theis list, after managing the club in two spells from February 1978 to June 1981 as permanent boss and April to May 1998 as a caretaker.

The Welshman played under Brian Clough as a player at Derby County, and joined Stoke in his second managerial job after four years at Shrewsbury Town from 1974 to 1978.

He helped Stoke to promotion to the First Division in his second season as boss, and helped consolidate the team in the top-flight before leaving for Sunderland at the end of his contract.

Durban returned in 1998 to save the club from relegation from the First Division, but was only able to win two of the last five games of the season as Stoke finished 23rd.

6 Brian Little - 1.46 PPG

Brian Little was Potters boss for just one year between June 1998 to 1999, as he dropped two leagues to the third tier after leaving First Division Aston Villa in February 1998.

Little had previously led the Villans to fourth in the Premiership, a League Cup trophy and UEFA Cup qualification, but his short time at Stoke was seen as a 'season of two-halves.'

Recently relegated Stoke began 1998/99 in fine form with six straight wins at the start of the season, but eventually tailed off due to backroom uncertainty and Little could only lead his side to finish eighth in the third tier.

The club parted ways with Little at the end of the season, and he went on to manage West Bromwich Albion, Hull City, Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham.

5 Tom Mather - 1.50 PPG

Tom Mather was one of Stoke's first long-serving bosses as he spent 12 years in charge of the club from 1923 to 1935.

Mather was initially in charge of Southend United and Bolton Wanderers before joining the Potters, but had a bad start at Stoke and the club was relegated to Division Three for the first time in 1926.

He helped the club bounce back by winning the Third Division (North) title in 1927, and the Second Division title followed in 1932 as he handed the great Stanley Matthews his first professional start.

Mather consolidated the club in Division One for two seasons, before leaving in 1935 to manage Newcastle United.

4 Lou Macari - 1.58 PPG

Macari is perhaps best known in football for his 11 years at Manchester United as a player, but he became a cult hero as Potters manager in his two spells from May 1991 to October 1993 and October 1994 to May 1997.

The Scot led the club to a first-ever Autoglass Trophy triumph with a 1-0 win over Stockport County at Wembley in his first season as boss, and then guided his side to promotion back to the First Division as champions in 1993.

An October 1993 move to boyhood club Celtic did not work out for Macari, and 12 months later he found himself back at the Victoria Ground helm, and soon nearly guided Stoke into the Premiership in the 1996 play-off semi-finals, but lost out 1-0 to eventual winners Leicester City.

He left the club a year later and has gone on to work in the media and with his own charity around the Stoke-on-Trent area.

3 Alfred Barker - 1.66 PPG

Stoke-on-Trent-born Barker was Potters boss from May 1908 to April 1914, and a member of the consortium that took over the club and formed Stoke FC (1908) Ltd, after it had been liquidated and resigned from the Football League.

An initial bid to gain instant re-election failed, and Barker took the club on as they won promotion as champions to the Southern League Division One in two consecutive seasons, after not being allowed to go up for the first time due to league re-organisation.

He left in 1914 after relegation back to Division Two and failure to achieve promotion at the first time of asking.

2 Gudjon Thordarson - 1.75 PPG

Icelander Gudjon Thordarson's reign as Stoke manager from November 1999 to May 2002 could be described as eventful, to say the least.

He was the club's first-ever non-British manager, brought in off the back of a takeover by businessmen from Iceland after previously managing his country's national team.

Then in the third tier, Thordarson guided the club into the Second Division promotion play-offs in consecutive seasons, and won the club their second Auto Windscreens Shield at Wembley in April 2000 with a victory over Bristol City.

City finally won promotion via the play-offs at the third attempt with a 2-0 final win against Brentford in May 2002, but Thordarson saw his contract terminated that summer with his position at the club deemed "untenable" according to then-chairman Gunnar Gislason.

1 Peter Hodge - 2.23 PPG

Hodge replaced the aforementioned Alfred Barker as boss in June 1914, but was only in charge until April 1915 as the outbreak of World War One curtailed competitive football at the highest levels between 1915 and 1919.

Scotsman Hodge was able to achieve what Barker couldn't in his only season as Stoke manager, winning promotion back to the Southern League Division One as champions in 1915, meaning the Potters could reclaim their place in the Football League in the Second Division when the top levels resumed in 1919.

He later went on to become one of Leicester City's most successful managers, and signed Matt Busby as a trainee when in charge at Manchester City in 1928.