Famous Managers – Brian Horton

Brian (“Nobby”) Horton

Port Vale Manager 1999 – 2004

Former Vale player Brian resigned his position as manager of Brighton to join the Valiants as manager in 1999.  In doing so he replaced John Rudge who had just been sacked with Vale struggling near the bottom of the First Division (second tier) league table.

Brian changed the team considerably with numerous players leaving to be replaced by relatively expensive newcomers and this enabled relegation to be avoided.  Further significant changes to the team were made for his first full season in charge in 1999/20 but this failed to prevent relegation, and the campaign also ended with a number of the stalwart players from the Rudge era retiring.

Then after a disappointing start to the 2000/01 season the team went on a strong run of form which featured just 2 defeats in 23 games and included winning the LDV League Trophy by beating Brentford at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

However, due to financial difficulties the Vale board put the club into administration in 2002 and when Brian found it increasingly difficult to work with the new owners, supporters led group Valiant 2001, who took over during 2003, he eventually tended his resignation in February 2004.

Brian had a managerial career which lasted over 20 years and saw him in charge at 7 different League clubs, including Manchester City in the Premier League.  In total he managed in excess of 1000 games.

Brian’s autobiography “Two Thousand Games: A Life in Football” was released in 2020.

Management style

In his playing days, Brian was considered a competitive midfielder known for his tackling and passing skills.

As a manager he developed a reputation for being a strong-minded, tactically-aware leader.