Arthur Sutcliffe – 1893 to 1896

Burnley had moved through their early years and the first five years of league football without anyone assuming the position of manager, the team had initially been selected by a committee before that responsibility passed to the board of directors.
Then in the summer of 1893 the directors elected to employ the club's first team manager and the then secretary Arthur Sutcliffe was asked to combine his current duties with that of taking responsibility for the team.
Although he continued the tradition of bringing in players from Scotland, Sutcliffe was keen to see a Burnley side of local lads coming through the ranks and some of the leading lights of local football, such as Walter Place Junior and Joe Taylor were amongst his early signings.
His first season in charge saw us reach the top three at one stage, and of his first twelve home games in charge, all were won including a Christmas Day win against Sheffield United. By the end of the season we had slipped to fifth, which was our highest finish since the introduction of the Football League.
A year later and we had slipped back to ninth after the manager was unable to hold on to influential players Peter Turnbull and goalkeeper Jack Hillman. They were both enticed into a move to Everton who it was suggested had flagrantly ignored the £10 signing on limit to ensure they got the Burnley duo.
It meant he had to field a younger team, and a team including a lot of local lads, and it got even more difficult when James Crabtee the local lad made good, who had gone on to play for England, was sold to Aston Villa in the summer of 1895.
Despite a poorer season that saw us fail to win in October, November and December, things got better after the New Year and we lost only two more league games until the end of the season. The season was brought to an end with a 6-0 demolition of local rivals Blackburn Rovers.
The summer brought to an end Arthur Sutcliffe's time as Burnley manager after three seasons, not a bad way to bow out though with a 6-0 victory over Blackburn.

Harry Bradshaw – 1896 to 1899

Harry Bradshaw joined Burnley Football Club in 1891 as secretary but became chairman after the club's first manager, Arthur Sutcliffe, had succeeded him as secretary.
And he succeeded him again, into the manager's chair, in the summer of 1896 although he did not have the best starts as Burnley manager. In his very first season in charge Burnley finished bottom of the First Division and that led to the playing of Test Matches which ended in our first ever relegation.
Faced with Second Division football for the first time, Bradshaw improved the team with the signings of Jimmy Ross and Wilf Toman. These two players scored no fewer than 38 league goals between them and saw Burnley back to the top league, finishing as Champions. We were promoted through the Test Matches, clinched with two wins over Blackburn Rovers, and with the league expanded second place Newcastle United were also promoted.
Bradshaw ensured there would be no instant relegation. He signed young defender Fred Barron from Stockton, and he went on to play 400 league games for the club. Just a few weeks into the season he brought back goalkeeper Jack Hillman.
It became a good season for Burnley and ended with a third place finish, the club claiming its highest placing since the introduction of the Football League eleven years earlier. Hopes were high that Bradshaw could lead Burnley to a first ever Championship but in the summer of 1899, after three years in charge, he moved on and became manager of Woolwich Arsenal, then in Division Two.
He led them to promotion five years later before taking over at Fulham again with success, leading them from the Southern League into the Football League. His association with Fulham ended in 1909, although his son Joe later managed them, and he became secretary of the Southern League, and he held that position until his death in 1921 at the age of 68.

Ernest Mangnall – 1899 to 1903

Spen Whittaker – 1903 to April 1910

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The first three managers had all combined the role with that of club secretary, but now the secretarial role was handed to director Mr W. R. Thornton whilst appointed as manager was Spence Whittaker (known as Spen) who had come to prominence within local football in Accrington.
He took over the side that had finished at the bottom of the Football League and had been forced into applying for re-election, and he immediately set about improving the club's fortunes and made a number of signings for the new season, the most notable of them being Hugh Moffatt who signed from Congleton. Moffatt went on to play over 200 league games for Burnley.
The performances did improve but never enough to mount any sort of promotion challenge. His first season in charge saw a fifth place finish but this was to be the best during Whittaker's time as manager and probably more significant were some of his signings.
Former England international Alec Leake arrived from Aston Villa, and despite being well into his thirties he played a major part in helping Whittaker build a team to try and get the club back into the First Division.
Richard Lindley and Willie Watson were both signed, from Oswaldtwistle Rovers and Southport Central respectively, and both were to play major parts for Burnley over the next decade and more.
However, his most memorable signing would surely be that of a young apprentice blacksmith from Cliviger, a goalkeeper by the name of Jerry Dawson. Within months the youngster was first team goalkeeper and went on to play no fewer than 569 first team games for Burnley, still the appearance record today.
It was very much an average time for Burnley though who really became a very average Second Division club, and it was another transfer dealing that brought and end to Spen's reign as Burnley manager when he was tragically killed in the rush to register a new player.
That was in April 1910 and on the Friday he went to London to register the signing of new player Harry Swift from Accrington. When the train he was travelling on reached Crewe there were reports that someone had fallen from the train. A body was discovered and it was that of Spen Whittaker. The club fell into mourning but did hold a benefit match against Manchester United for his wife and family.

R. H. Wadge – April to July 1910
Burnley were left without a manager following the tragic death of Spen Whittaker, and made the decision to wait until the summer to make a new appointment.
For the remainder of the 1909/10 season the duties were taken on by long serving director R. H. Wadge. As planned, during the summer, he reverted back to his position on the board which he retained until 1915 when he left the area for business reasons after 24 years of service with Burnley Football Club.


John Haworth – July 1910 to December 1924

Albert Pickles – January 1925 to September 1932

Tom Bromilow – October 1932 to July 1935

Alf Boland – August 1935 to 1940

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Cliff Britton – May 1945 to September 1948