How Premier League managerial nationalities have changed over time

By Michael Baileyand Duncan Alexande

Despite all his good work last season, on Monday Gary O’Neil was shuffled off his managerial duties at Bournemouth. In his place arrived the much-admired coaching figure of Andoni Iraola.

With that one move, Spaincan now boast the most managers of any country in the Premier League. At least, they can for now. Who knows when the next one will be sacked, poached, scrambled or fried?

It may have been a solitary switch, but Spain’s rise and the increasing diversity in the management pool of the English top flight have been growing trends for some time.

There has been a Spanish manager at some point in each Premier League season since 2004-05. The trend began with the appointment of Rafael Benitez at Liverpoolbefore that campaign and reached seven names last season.

It is unlikely Ruben Selles, the interim boss at relegated Southampton, nor Javi Gracia, who led Leedsfor only a couple of months, will be back managing in the Premier League any time soon. Similarly, ill-fated Spanish reigns include Juande Ramos’ year at Tottenham Hotspur, Pepe Mel’s 123 days at West Bromwich Albion, as well as Xisco Munoz becoming another managerial statistic for Watford.

Benitez was the start, but when Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery are all in the midst of overseeing such significant shifts at Manchester City, Arsenaland Aston Villarespectively — albeit over differing timeframes and levels of achievement — you can understand why the trend is there and why it continues to grow.

The 2004-05 season that introduced Benitez proved a landmark campaign, with the Premier League hosting managers from 10 or more countries for the first time.

It included the first Portuguese manager, too, with Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Chelsea. He is one of six to operate in the history of the Premier League; the most recent being Fulhamboss Marco Silva. Martin Jol provided the Dutch flavour at Spurs that season, while Croatiawas represented for the first time by Velimir Zajec’s temporary spell in charge of Portsmouth.

All of this was far removed from the Premier League that started out in 1992-93. By 1995-96, the league was still home to managers who represented just three countries: England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Compare that to last season, which saw the coaching abilities of 14 different countries on show: Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, the U.S. and Wales.

Only 2014-15 (16) and 2018-19 (15) have seen a greater number.

You can add a new country to the list for next season, too: Ange Postecoglou will become the first Australian to manage in the Premier League as he takes charge of his first competitive league fixture at Spurs.

And a short switch across north London represents one man who helped change the Premier League’s managerial landscape.

Arsene Wenger broke that geographically limited pool of managers with his arrival at Arsenal during the 1996-97 campaign. He would go on to represent French coaching in the English top flight for 22 years.

Seven Frenchmen followed Wenger into the Premier League, including Gerard Houllier who managed Liverpool and Aston Villa. None proved as successful, however.

The sole French representative last season was Patrick Vieira, who was sacked by Crystal Palacein March. The Premier League is set to be without a French manager for the third season of six since Wenger left Arsenal.

So with Spain now leading the way in the Premier League, what of England’s head coach talent?

For all the globalisation of the English top flight, it remains an important facet of the domestic game to have a healthy coaching scene.

It is notable that next season is set to begin with Englishmen accounting for 20 per cent of the Premier League managerial positions (based on Crystal Palace confirming Roy Hodgson as their permanent manager), the home country’s lowest percentage share since 1992.

The 2022-23 campaign actually saw the greatest number of managers used in a Premier League season: 39. Nine were able to see out the entire 38-game league campaign. Newcastle’s Eddie Howe was the only Englishman to do so. The tenure of English managers last season averaged 13 games.

And then there is Scotland. West Hamboss David Moyes was their sole managerial representative last season, preserving a run of only one Premier League season without a Scottish manager going about their business.

Perhaps that is not so surprising when you consider Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500 games as Manchester Unitedmanager took him from Premier League inception through to May 2013.

The only season without a Scottish manager? Well, that would be a good quiz question*. It was certainly a fun season, arguably the most stylish in Premier League history with Austria, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Serbiaand the U.S. all represented at some point.

Maybe with the Premier League’s growing Spanish interest and expanding coaching tentacles, next season will give that campaign a run for its money.

*If you were indeed treating it as a quiz question, then we’re happy to tell you the answer was 2018-19.

https://theathletic.com/4624932/2023/06/25/premier-league-managers-nations/