This clear and accessible book is the first in-depth history of the role of the football manager in British football, tracing a path from Victorian-era amateurism to the highly paid motivational specialists and media personalities of the twenty-first century. Using original source materials, the book traces the changing character and function of the football manager, covering: the origins of football management – club secretaries and early pioneers the impact of post-war social change – the advent of the football business television and the new commercialism contemporary football – specialisation.