Shocking statistics about how often clubs change managers

It’s almost unheard of for a coach to spend five years at one club

Roman Abramovich’s decision to axe Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari this week means that he has sacked just one less manager over the last five years than fellow Londoners West Ham have in their entire history. It also means that Guus Hiddink will become the fourth man to coach the Blues in just eighteen months. Over that period they have lost just six league matches, which is the same number as Manchester United have lost during the same spell. Here are more crazy statistics about managerial casualties:

» Just seven of the 92 clubs in the top four tiers of English football have kept their current manager for a period of over five years.

» The clubs of the four longest serving Premier League managers - Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, David Moyes and Rafael Benitez - are all in the top six. Martin O’Neill has spent the sixth longest spell in charge of a top-flight club and Aston Villa are currently reaping the rewards for that continuity.

» 39 of the 92 Football League clubs haven’t kept hold of their current manager for more than twelve months, which accounts for 42%.

» Just three of the 53 managers that have lasted at least a year in their current post come from outside of the UK and Ireland (5.7%). In total there are ten foreign managers in English football, accounting for 10.9%.

» Gianfranco Zola, the first manager to be appointed after this season had got underway, is already now the 63rd longest serving. 29 clubs have changed bosses at least once since his appointment at West Ham.

» Premier League clubs have changed managers 25 times over the last 24 months. The worst offenders over that time have been Newcastle and Chelsea, who have both disposed of three.

Posted: February 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn |