♣ List of football managers with the most games

This is a list of football managers that have managed the most games, including those with 1,000 or more games. The list includes managers' total matches, comprising club domestic league and cup, continental and global tallies plus all FIFA-certified international matches (both competitive and friendly).

Alex Ferguson, who took charge of a total of 2,155 competitive games between 1974 and 2013, holds the world record for the most games as a manager, starting with East Stirlingshire in Scotland and finishing with an enormously successful 27-year spell as manager of Manchester United, also including an interim spell as manager of the Scotland national football team during the mid-1980s. His long-time rival at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, is third on the list with 1,701 games, most of which were during his 22-year spell with the Gunners. Dario Gradi, of dual English and Italian heritage, took charge of 1,557 Football League matches in a 33-year career which took in spells with Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and three spells - totalling 1,359 games - in 28 years at Crewe Alexandra.

Other managers on the list include former England managers Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor, former Manchester United manager Matt Busby, former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, and former Derby County and Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough.

Ignacio Trelles, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Roy Hodgson, Dick Advocaat and Giovanni Trapattoni are the only managers of 1,000 or more club games and 100 or more national team games.

▼ Connection Pages

♣ National team managers with 100 or more games

♣ List of longest managerial reigns in association football

The longest managerial reign in association football belongs to Englishman Fred Everiss, who was manager of Football League team West Bromwich Albion for over 45 years, starting his reign in 1902 and ending when he retired in 1948. The longest post-war reign belongs to Frenchman Guy Roux, who managed Auxerre in three separate reigns totalling 44 years, taking them from France's fifth division to become Division 1 champions in 1996.

Managerial reigns in football have decreased since the 1960s, and by 2015, the average spell in England's top four divisions was 1.23 years. Managers such as Pep Guardiola and Béla Guttmann have been proponents of a "three-year rule", as has football journalist and author Jonathan Wilson, who writes that managers can succumb to a "fatalistic idealism" beyond this period, describing it as similar to a Greek tragedy.

Longest reigns

In the early decades of organised football, team selection was often conducted by committee among the club directors, with an appointed 'secretary-manager' dealing with player contracts and other administrative tasks, assisted by 'trainers' dealing with coaching and fitness matters. As the secretary role was largely clerical and often occupied by one of the directors, they tended to remain in post for many years regardless of results in the short term. Until after World War I, some clubs never had a manager by name.

As demands and expectations on officials increased both on and off the field, gradually specialist roles became commonplace, and by the end of the 1930s, it was common for clubs in the British Isles to have an official manager as a figurehead dealing with most or all team matters, but with less long-term job security than the secretary-managers of old. Elsewhere, the separation between the office and pitchside functions persisted: the head coach in charge of training and match tactics became increasingly respected and prominent, but meanwhile while a figure closer to the ownership in the role of general manager, sporting director or director of football maintained control over financial and commercial aspects, with the levels of influence and balance of power between the coach and director varying between clubs and nations. As in the earlier era, the director would often have a tenure of several years to oversee the overall progress of the club, while the head coach would typically keep their job only for as long as the on-field results were positive.

For the purpose of this list, a separation has been made between pre-World War II reigns, which includes many secretary-managers, and the period after the conflict ended when regular competitions resumed in most countries, and longer managerial/head coach appointments became far less commonplace. For those whose terms spanned World War II, they have been placed in the section covering the majority of their reign. Long serving head coaches in international football are also recorded separately below.

Longest managerial reigns (post-1946)

Longest managerial reigns in international football

♣ List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers

The European Cup was an association football competition contested from 1956 to 1992. Spanish manager José Villalonga led Real Madrid to success in the inaugural final in 1956 and repeated the feat the following season. English clubs and managers dominated the competition in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning every tournament from 1977 to 1982. Despite this, Italian managers have been the most successful, winning twelve of the tournaments since 1956.

The competition became the UEFA Champions League in 1992, with Belgian Raymond Goethals leading French club Marseille to success that season.

Carlo Ancelotti is the only manager to have won the tournament on four occasions. Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola have won the tournament on three occasions. Paisley led Liverpool to three titles in five seasons, Ancelotti won four titles and reached six finals with AC Milan and Real Madrid, and Zidane won three consecutive titles with Real Madrid. Sixteen other managers have won the title on two occasions. Only six managers have won the title with two clubs: Ancelotti with Milan in 2003 and 2007 and Real Madrid in 2014 and 2022; Ernst Happel with Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburger SV in 1983; Ottmar Hitzfeld with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern Munich in 2001; José Mourinho with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010; Jupp Heynckes with Real Madrid in 1998 and Bayern Munich in 2013; and Guardiola with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 and Manchester City in 2023. Seven men have won the tournament both as a player and as a manager, namely Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Guardiola and Zidane.

♣ Treble (association football)

A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental trophy. Although winning a second-tier continental trophy (e.g. Europa League) has also been described as a continental treble, it is not as widely accepted. A domestic treble involves winning three national competitions—including the league title, the primary cup competition, and one secondary competition, such as a secondary cup or state-level league.

Competitions which consist of a single match or a two-leg match are not normally counted as part of a treble (e.g., the FA Community Shield, Supercopa de España, Supercoppa Italiana, Trophée des Champions, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup, Recopa Sudamericana, FIFA Club World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and others).

European Treble manager

♣ Managers league title Win 2 or more times (European league)

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