The 10 Best Football Managers of All Time: Ranked by Legacy, Trophies & Influence
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The 10 Best Football Managers of All Time: Ranked by Legacy, Trophies & Influence

The 10 Best Football Managers of All Time

Though it took some time, managers may be the most praised asset of an achieving football team.

You can build a team of superstars to run the field of play, but without a true mastermind to guide them, the ship can very easily sink.

Across the many eras of football, the sport has evolved like no other – showcasing an assortment of styles, tactics and leadership. Whilst this makes it easier to praise the genius’ engineering it all, how on earth can you rank them when they each competed in separate leagues, generations and technical areas?

At Football Park, we have put our best effort forward, handpicking football’s top 10 innovators, tacticians, and serial winners. These managers have been carefully selected through their achievements, longevity, influence and style of play.

So, with no further delay, lets dive straight into the list…

10. Jose Mourinho

Titled ‘The Special One’ and so he deserves it, given the stature of his impressive resume in management.

Jose Mourinho is in the minority of managers who didn’t develop by building a staple career on the pitch. Whilst the phenomenon still made it to a respectable level in the Portuguese leagues, he is in no way known for his playing days, after leaving them behind at the age of just 24.

Despite this offering Mourinho less experience around a first team environment, it also gave him plenty more time to to learn and build up his expertise in coaching – starting as a PE teacher. Fast-forwarding a few years, the Portuguese found himself as Bobby Robson’s right-hand man. They pair moved from Lisbon to Porto and then to Barcelona together and that is where Jose’s career kicked on.

Since then, the medalist has managed 11 clubs, most famously Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Porto. The latter two being where Mourinho achieved his two-time Champions League success.

Whilst his style of football didn’t always gain the attraction of its beholders, it certainly won him silverware and a golden legacy in the game.

9. Sir Matt Busby

Sir Matt Busby spent 17 years of his career playing for Manchester City and Liverpool and yet is best known for his extraordinary time in charge of bitter rivals Manchester United.

Busby spent the best part of 25 years standing in the Old Trafford dugout, becoming a dominant pillar in English football. His success across the 1950s was astonishing, winning three league titles - including two back-to-back between 1956 and 1957 – all with his youthful squad nicknamed ‘The Busby Babes.’ That was until one of the most tragic events in the sport’s history occurred the year after that third title.

An air disaster in Munich carrying Manchester United players, supporters and journalists resulted in 23 people losing their lives – eight of which were United Players. Matt Busby himself suffered multiple serious injuries from the crash but after recovering and deciding to persevere, he continued to manage the Red Devils.

From then, the Scotsman went on to achieve many trophies in Manchester, including the club’s first ever European Cup in 1968.

8. Carlo Ancelotti

No other manager has won the Champions League more times than Carlo Ancelotti, there is simply no way he could not have made this list. His five winners’ medals from six finals in the prestigious European competition trumps any other coach, with the next most triumphant only being on three.

His royal Champions League record isn’t even the most impressive fact relating to the Italian either. Ancelotti is the only manager in history to have won the league title in each of Europe’s top five divisions, having completed the pentalogy with Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan, PSG and Bayern Munich.

Carlo Ancelotti epitomises man management. His ability to motivate his players through enforcing a winning team spirit has led to him winning silverware at most of his many destinations. He achieved this by pumping confidence into his squads, letting his players express their own qualities and moulding his teams to best suit them.

7. Arrigo Sacchi

Arrigo Sacchi may honour one of the most gripping journeys in football history. He was never regarded good enough to play for a club in his early days, so instead took on management at the age of 27. This came after he had been working as a shoe salesman for a number of years, highlighting how inspirational his story is.

Sacchi worked his way up the coaching ranks, tutoring players who were astonishingly older than he was. He was later appointed as the head coach of AC Milan in 1987, to the disapproval of the media due to his lack of credibility.

After winning the Serie A title in his first season in charge, the Italian soon hushed the critics. His attacking, fluid Milan side then built on this initial spark with plenty more accolades to come, including back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990.

Sacchi’s impeccable legacy has now been amplified by having made his AC Milan squad one of the best teams to ever do it.

6. Bill Shankly

Liverpool Football Club would not be the prominent force they are today if it weren’t for Bill Shankly paving way for the club’s success. He managed the Reds for 15 years between 1959 and 1974 and revolutionised the club, taking them up from the Second Division to then win a trio of top flight titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

Whilst there are managers on this list and succeeding Liverpool coaches - such as Bob Paisley – who have a much longer list of achievements, Shankly is admired for his importance to the club during a troubled time on the pitch. He set the tone for years of triumph at the club and built an unbreakable bond with the fans.

Now, Liverpool are recognised as one of the largest and most successful clubs in history, recently winning their 20th league title.

5. Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera’s impact on football matured the perspective we all have on managers nowadays. Before his reign coaching across 14 different clubs, managers were the last people to receive the credit for a performing team. It was always the players who made the headlines and were given superstar statuses.

However, the strict discipline, psychological pep-talks and defensive systems he enforced into his several clubs, changed the way people view football managers. It also won him a lot of trophies.

The Argentine won over 20 titles during his lengthy streak as the boss, with his most renowned stints coming with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan. With these three alone, Herrera won several La Liga and Serie A titles, as well as a handful of domestic cups.

4. Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is simply just a footballing genius. Heading into management with intent to match his illustrious career on the pitch was a tricky prospect for the Dutchman, given that he was one of the greatest players of all time - winning three Ballon d’Or’s and a heap of trophies needing multiple cabinets. But he certainly gave it his best shot to say the least.

Cruyff’s span in the dugout wasn’t necessarily a lengthy one, lasting just 11 years across Ajax and Barcelona, however his impact alone was enough to outweigh any need for longevity.

Winning 14 trophies in total across the two clubs sung its own praises, especially considering that two European trophies are included in that bunch. But alongside his gravitation to pots of silver, Cruyff influenced the modern state of football.

His expansion of ‘Total Football’ – a managerial strategy presented by the Dutchman’s former coach Rinus Michels – is now a style of football orchestrated by some of the greatest teams the world.

3. Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola is arguably the greatest manager of the current generation, and it’s easy to work out why when you trace his coaching career back to the roots.

He was a young apprentice of Johan Cruyff, learning all the tricks and trades from his former Barcelona guardian. Now with the combination of Cruyff’s philosophy and his magic, Pep has become constitutional winner and one of football’s greats.

The Spaniard’s career in the dugout has now spanned across 17 years and three teams, including Barcelona – who he spent 11 years with as a player, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City.

Pep’s list of trophies is certainly an extensive one; all that needs to be said is that he is responsible for the second ever treble winning season in England with City, as well as being the mastermind behind the famous Barcelona team from 2008 to 2012, that are still classed as the greatest ever to this day.

2. Rinus Michels

The man who influenced a continuous string of successful managers through his ‘Total Football’ approach – Rinus Michels.

This treasured system laid down avid folklore for how football is played today, by strategising a player being able to leave their position and then expecting a teammate to cover them. This broke apart the boundary of having to stay fixed in a traditional formation, allowing for more fluid football.

Using this theory, Michels reached considerable heights in his managerial tenure – most famously for Ajax, Barcelona, and his home nation The Netherlands. The Dutchman won multiple Eridivisie’s, plenty of domestic trophies, a European Cup, a La Liga title and even a European Championship with his beloved national team.

He is now easily recognised as one of the best coaches to ever do it.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson

You simply cannot be the man to dominate world football for over 25 years and then not finish top of this list.

Sir Alex Ferguson is an icon and a staple of the sport we all know and love. The Scotsman is statistically the most successful manager in history through the sheer mass of silverware he brought home during his 27-year reign over Manchester United.

Sir Alex was appointed in a time of need in 1986, as the Red Devils were underperforming dramatically. From then on, he went on to win 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions Leagues, a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and more, before he bade farewell in 2013.

However, Ferguson’s addiction to trophies started a long time before his days in Manchester. He had already claimed 11 titles with Scottish outfit Aberdeen throughout the 1980s. These accolades included plenty of European and domestic success, which ultimately earned the trailblazer his prosperous switch over to England.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist

Tom Booth

Content Writer

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