Stokoe took the post of player-manager at
Bury in December 1961 which, at 31 years of age, made him the second-youngest manager in the Football League. He led them to the semi-finals of the League Cup in 1962–63. He retired from playing in 1964, staying on as manager for another year after which he moved south to take charge at
Charlton Athletic from 1965 to 1967. He was manager of
Rochdale from 1967 to 1968, followed by three separate spells at
Carlisle United (1968–1970, 1980–1985 and 1985–1986).
Blackpool Between spells at Carlisle, Stokoe managed
Blackpool from 1970 to 1972. He was initially approached by the club in the summer of 1969, after the departure of
Stan Mortensen. At the time, he declined, preferring to stay with Carlisle; just over eighteen months later, however, he became the ninth official manager in Blackpool's history. With Blackpool relegated to the
Second Division before he took over, Stokoe began to clear out the "deadwood" and rebuilt the side more to his liking. Stokoe agreed to sell
Tony Green to his old club, Newcastle, bringing striker Keith Dyson in the opposite direction. Before the departure of Green, Blackpool enjoyed a successful venture into Europe, winning the
Anglo-Italian Cup in
June 1971. In the league, meanwhile, the Seasiders finished in sixth place. This still was not good enough for the fans, however, who became disenchanted with life outside the top flight again, and the club's style of play under Stokoe was not to their liking. Another successful run in the Anglo-Italian Cup the following season, when Blackpool finished as runners-up to
Roma, kept the critics at bay, but the feeling around
Bloomfield Road was that the
1972–73 campaign would be critical. Stokoe's third season at Blackpool started well enough when, with the team reasonably placed for a promotion push and having stated that he intended to remain at the club for five years, he left the club. He had been lured back to his native north-east by Sunderland.
Sunderland Stokoe took over as manager of Sunderland on 29 November 1972 when they were fourth from bottom of the Second Division table after a run of just four wins in 18 games. Although his first game in charge was lost 1–0 at home to Burnley, the following week seemingly liberated players won 3–2 away at Portsmouth, starting a run of 32 games, with only five defeats. Just six months later, on 5 May 1973, having already beaten Manchester City and
Arsenal on their way to the
FA Cup final, Stokoe took the Second Division club to
Wembley and defeated the cup holders
Leeds United to secure Sunderland's first FA Cup title since 1937. Managed by
Don Revie, whom Stokoe had opposed when playing for Newcastle United in their
1955 FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, Leeds United were a team packed with international players and strong favourites to retain the trophy. However, Sunderland scored in the first half through
Ian Porterfield and with the help of a memorable second-half match-saving double save from goalkeeper
Jim Montgomery, managed to win 1–0. The victory was the first time a Second Division team had won the Cup in 42 years. Stokoe is remembered for his impromptu jubilant run down the pitch at the end of the game, complete in Mackintosh and his trilby hat, to celebrate the victory with Montgomery. A statue of Stokoe with his arms held aloft in celebratory mid-run now stands outside Sunderland's
Stadium of Light. None of the Sunderland players had been capped at the highest level when they lifted the cup, though some were capped later. Sunderland finished 6th in the Second Division that season and narrowly missed promotion in the following two seasons. In
1975–76, he guided the club to the Second Division title. He tendered his resignation the following season after they struggled in the First Division with a start of nine straight games without a victory.
Later years In May 1978, Stokoe returned to Blackpool with the club in dire straits. Under the management of
Allan Brown they had been relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history and were looking for someone who could rebuild the club. He guided them to a mid-table finishing position, and then resigned again before the start of the
1979–80 season. There followed another spell with Rochdale (1979–1980) which ended with the club having to seek re-election to the League and spells with Carlisle United (1980–1985 and 1985–1986). He led Carlisle to promotion to the Second Division in 1982, and in the 1983–84 season they became promotion contenders before a poor run saw them finish 7th. He resigned in 1985, only to be reappointed and resign again seven months later. Towards the end of the
1986–87 season, he was appointed caretaker manager of Sunderland as they struggled in the Second Division. They narrowly lost on the away goals rule, in the end-of-season relegation-promotion playoffs and were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history. His contract was not renewed and he retired from football. During his whole career as a manager he was never sacked by any of his clubs. ==Death==