Unlike players with the transfer window, managers do not have a period dedicated exclusively to moving clubs. While they too have contracts, which generally run until the end of a season, they can nevertheless be dismissed before the end of a campaign.
This is far from a rare occurrence, and one that is likely to become increasingly rare in view of the multiple financial stakes behind a club’s sporting results. However, there are also cases where coaches who have reached the end of their contract decide to leave the club. For example, four of the 17 coaches retained in the Premier League at the end of the 2023/24 season (Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, David Moyes and Roberto De Zerbi) have left their posts.
The start of the 2024/25 Premier League season has also not been kind to some either, with Erik ten Hag, being sacked as Manchester United manager at the end of October after a string of poor performances. With the Dutchman’s exit, who are now the current longest serving managers in the English top-flight?
The 10 Longest Serving Premier League Managers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Manager | Club | From |
1. | Pep Guardiola | Manchester City | 1st of July 2016 |
2. | Thomas Frank | Brentford | 16th of October 2018 |
3. | Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | 22nd of December 2019 |
4. | Marco Silva | Fulham | 1st of July 2021 |
5. | Eddie Howe | Newcastle United | 8th of November 2021 |
6. | Kieran McKenna | Ipswich Town | 16th of December 2021 |
7. | Unai Emery | Aston Villa | 1st of November 2022 |
8. | Sean Dyche | Everton | 30th of January 2023 |
9. | Ange Postecoglou | Tottenham | 6th of June 2023 |
10. | Andoni Iraola | Bournemouth | 19th of June 2023 |
10 Andoni Iraola
From: 19th of June 2023
Andoni Iraola may now be on the Bournemouth bench, but his fate could well have been quite different. Having been approached by Leeds United while still in charge of Rayo Vallecano, the Spaniard was not allowed to leave his post during the season and had to wait until the end of the season and the end of his contract before finally being allowed to do so.
In the end, it was the Cherries who managed to convince him to join them last summer. And while for some clubs, a twelfth-place finish in the table would be synonymous with failure, that is not the case at Bournemouth. With 48 points from the 2023/24 season, the Spaniard even helped the Vitality Stadium outfit to a record season and a comfortable stay in the top flight.
9 Ange Postecoglou
From: 6th of June 2023
When he arrived at Tottenham in the summer of 2023, Ange Postecoglou still had no experience of Europe’s top level. Having built most of his career in his native Australia, the Athens-born manager was not the biggest of names, despite having achieved some impressive results during his time at Glasgow Celtic (2018-2023).
His style of play, with its emphasis on attacking football and its reliance on young players, propelled Spurs to the top of the table on the eighth day of the Premier League campaign in his first season in charge. Unfortunately, their perennial inconsistency prevented them from qualifying for the Champions League in 2024/25, prompting Postecoglou to call for changes to take them in ‘a completely different direction’.
8 Sean Dyche
From: 30th of January 2023
Unlike Postecoglou, Sean Dyche has plenty of Premier League experience under his belt. After being appointed to the Watford bench in 2011, the Kettering native joined Burnley the following season, not yet knowing that he would spend ten years of his life there. With the Clarets, Dyche experienced every emotion.
From winning the Championship title in 2016 to being relegated to the second tier of English football in 2022, the 52-year-old coach had a thousand and one anecdotes to tell. Eventually sacked from his post following this latest setback, he joined Everton in January 2023 and managed to keep the Toffees in the Premier League twice, despite the setbacks he faced – including an initial deduction of six points in February 2024, followed by a second, this time by two points, in April.
7 Unai Emery
From: 1st of November 2022
After a mixed spell on the Arsenal bench (between May 2018 and November 2019) and a more successful period at Villarreal, Unai Emery joined Aston Villa in October 2022. 16th in the Premier League before his arrival, the Villans eventually finished the 2022/23 season in 7th place, and the Spaniard was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Season prize.
In his second campaign at Villa Park, the former Paris Saint-Germain boss led his team to an unlikely Champions League qualification place, where they finished fourth for the first time since 1982/83, as well as a Europa Conference League semi-final. All these achievements have been rewarded with a contract extension until 2029.
6 Kieran McKenna
From: 16th of December 2021
Although he has yet to manage a single match in the competition, Kieran McKenna is all set to be one of the most impressive young coaches in the Premier League right now. In August, he will be leading Ipswich Town, the club that gave him the chance to become a manager and who he has enjoyed unparalleled success with.
Although he had previously worked with the youth teams at Tottenham and Manchester United, it was with the Tractors Boys that he gained his first real experience on the bench. Officially appointed as their new coach in December 2021, while the club was still playing in League One, the London-born boss managed to offer its supporters back-to-back promotions, ending Ipswich’s 22-year absence from English football’s elite.
5 Eddie Howe
From: 8th of November 2021
A child of Bournemouth, Eddie Howe first played for the Cherries, where he trained, before becoming their manager. During his first few seasons at the Vitality Stadium, the young coach managed to lead his club back into League One, but left in 2011 after the club agreed to let him go to join Burnley.
Things did not go well there, however, and Howe soon left the Clarets to return to Bournemouth, where he served between 2012 and 2020, leading his beloved club back to the Premier League and even managing to keep them there. Howe is now pursuing his career at Newcastle, which he joined in 2021. The former Cherries boss has enjoyed remarkable success at the club, in particular in the 2022/2023 season when his side managed to reach the Champions League by finishing in 4th in the Premier League.
4 Marco Silva
From: 1st of July 2021
After starting his managerial career in Portugal, his country of birth, Marco Silva arrived in England and had spells at Hull City (2017), Watford (2017-2018) and Everton (2018-2019). Announced as a Fulham coach in July 2021, he helped the Cottagers, who had been relegated to the Championship at the end of the previous season, to an immediate return to the Premier League.
In his first season at Craven Cottage, he finished a creditable 10th in the league, which led to him being courted by Saudi Arabian clubs, which he turned down. Although his second campaign proved a little more complicated, with a 13th-place finish, the important thing – staying up – remained assured.
3 Mikel Arteta
From: 22nd of December 2019
Having cut his teeth working alongside Pep Guardiola on the Manchester City bench, Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal in December 2019, in the first managerial role of his career. It is a choice that the Gunners’ management must be delighted with today, as their unshakable confidence in the Spaniard has been more than vindicated.
In addition to winning the FA Cup (2020) and the Community Shield (2020, 2023), the former midfielder, who played at the Emirates Stadium between 2011 and 2016, has helped his club return to the forefront of English football. Although he has yet to bring down Manchester City, he has given them a run for their money over the last two seasons, finishing second in the table on both occasions in the Premier League.
2 Thomas Frank
From: 16th of October 2018
He might not be the coach you’d think of to take second place in this ranking, and yet he is. After arriving at Brentford from Danish club Brondby in 2016, Thomas Frank initially took on an assistant role – until 2018 – before being appointed to the Bees’ bench.
From then on, the Scandinavian put his stamp on his new team and helped them secure promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2020/21 season. More than that, he made them a regular fixture in the top flight, as well as a potential European contender, leading the club to a fine 9th place finish at the end of the 2022/23 season.
1 Pep Guardiola
From: 1st of July 2016
Pep Guardiola certainly needs no introduction. Considered one of, if not the best, coaches in the history of the beautiful game, the Catalan joined Manchester City in 2016 after successful spells on the Barcelona and Bayern Munich benches. It was the start of a period of unchallenged dominance for the Manchester club, winners of six of the last seven editions of the Premier League.
In the cup too, the 53-year-old coach continues to pile up the trophies, including two FA Cups (2019, 2023), four League Cups (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021) and two Community Shields (2018, 2019). More importantly, he managed to take the Skyblues to the roof of Europe, guiding them to the first Champions League in their history in 2023. But, with his contract due to expire in June 2025, his departure at the end of next season is now expected.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 01-11-2024.