Peterborough United sack Luke Williams after Doncaster defeat
Peterborough United have sacked manager Luke Williams after Saturday's defeat at home to Doncaster Rovers left the Posh second from bottom in League One.
The loss was the club's third in a winless five-game run in the league, which has them just one point above Wigan Athletic at the foot of the table. Williams, who oversaw just one league win from seven games this season, has paid for that slow start with his job after less than 11 months in charge.
The club said the decision to sack Williams had not been "taken lightly" but that the board "felt it had no other choice but to make a change".
"The team's form in League One has not matched the board's expectations, particularly given the significant investment made in the squad," Peterborough said in a statement.
Cup highs fail to mask league struggles
Despite the miserable run in the third tier, Williams did deliver a highlight, guiding Peterborough into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2009. That came after a dramatic 7-6 penalty shootout win against Barnsley in a game that had finished 3-3 just four days earlier.
The 45-year-old took over from Darren Ferguson, who was in his fourth spell with the club, in October 2025 when the Posh were bottom of the table. While Peterborough recovered to finish 18th under Williams, another sluggish start this term has cost him his job after just seven league games.
A career that started in Swindon
Williams' time at Weston Homes Stadium has been the shortest of his managerial career, which began with a spell at Swindon Town that ended in May 2017. He then worked as an assistant manager to Russell Martin at MK Dons and Swansea before getting another shot as a manager with Notts County, guiding the club to promotion from the National League in 2023 before taking the helm at Swansea in the Championship in January 2024.
After losing his job at Swansea, Williams took time out from football and worked as a customer care assistant at Bristol Airport. In total, he won 18 and lost 20 of the 47 matches he took charge of at Peterborough.
Peterborough's summer recruitment drive had included bringing Danny Ormerod from AFC Fylde in for a fee of at least £600,000, while Ethan Williams was said to have cost a "sizeable" sum when he was signed from Manchester United.
No immediate replacement
Williams' successor has not been immediately lined up. Peterborough have placed the existing coaching team of assistant manager Ryan Harley and coach Connell Rawlinson in temporary charge.