[7] He has managed English league clubs Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers, Swindon Town, Derby County, Bradford City, Darlington and Danish Superliga side Randers FC.

He made his debut as substitute for Charlie Hurley in a 1–1 draw away against Chelsea in the First Division on 10 September 1966,[11][12] and by mid-season had established himself in the starting eleven.

When linked with the club, Brian Clough famously remarked "We're not signing Colin Todd, we can't afford him".

After Rioch left to manage Arsenal, having achieved promotion in the 1994–95 season, McFarland moved to Bolton as joint-manager alongside Todd.

Bolton struggled to cope with the Premier League and McFarland was dismissed in early 1996, leaving Todd in sole charge.

Todd led the club to the play-off final in 1999 but lost to Watford, and he resigned seven games into the 1999–2000 season following the sale of Per Frandsen to Blackburn Rovers.

His spell at Swindon was unsuccessful as poor results meant the club faced a relegation battle when it had been hoped to gain promotion.

When Smith resigned in October 2001 Todd was promoted to manager[19] but he was sacked after just three months having failed to improve the struggling club's form.

[22] Shortly afterwards, the club was relegated to League Two and Todd pointed to the departure of key players and lack of funds for new signings as reasons for Bradford's demise.

[23] Todd said that lack of job opportunities in England led to him managing Randers FC in Denmark, saying: "Even though I'm coming up to 59, I still get a buzz.

"[24] Todd was due to leave Randers at the end of June 2009, to be replaced by another 1992 European champion former Arsenal player John Jensen.

He replaced Dave Penney who left the club to join League One side Oldham Athletic as a result of Darlington's administration.

[25][26] After leaving Darlington, Todd is believed to have applied for the manager's job at English-based Scottish Football League Third Division side Berwick Rangers.

[29] On 8 February 2013, UEFA recognised Todd's Coaching Diploma as valid, which meant that Randers could announce him as their permanent manager.

[32] On 8 July, just 40 days after his final game in charge of Randers FC,[33] Todd was announced as the new manager of the Superliga club Esbjerg fB, signing a one-year contract.

[38] One week later, Todd managed his first win in charge of Esbjerg, beating OB 3–2 at Blue Water Arena.