Once upon a time, the pervading image of a football manager was a grizzled veteran of the sport. Bedecked in a tracksuit, they would bark instructions at their players – instructions which would range from ‘get stuck in’ to ‘stick it in the mixer’.
But football management seems to have undergone an overhaul. Today, managers and head coaches are young, suave and happy to wear suits or even smart/casual attire as they prowl the dugout. Often, they have had less-than-stellar careers as players.
Premier League clubs in particular seem to be targeting a younger, more dynamic demographic in their choice of manager. This isn’t designed to be some sort of ageist assault: the numbers speak for themselves.
Average Football Manager Ages Over the Years
In this 2024/25 Premier League season, and of the 20 managers currently employed at the time of writing, their combined age was 938. All of which means that the average age of the current crop of Premier League head coaches is 46.9 – the lowest it’s been in more than two decades (back when the average English Premier League boss today was a mere whippersnapper).
It’s not the first time that the Premier League has had three managers in their thirties: Kieran McKenna and Russell Martin (both 38 at the time of writing), plus Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler – who happens to be the youngest head coach in the history of the Premier League at just 31. But they certainly help to bring the average age down.
There is also Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, who is a long way away from his pension at the age of 41, while 42-year-olds Mikel Arteta and Andoni Iraola are closer to the cradle than the grave in terms of their managerial careers.
The 1990s & 2000s
Compare and contrast that to the managerial class of 1994/95, which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this term. Premier League clubs were willing to take a chance on younger managers even back then: in that season, five different head coaches – Glenn Hoddle (Chelsea), George Burley (Ipswich Town), Mark McGhee (Leicester City), Gary Megson (Norwich City) and Ray Wilkins (QPR) – were in their thirties.
But in that 22-team season, the other 17 managers were in their mid-forties or older, with five in their fifties – pushing the average age up considerably. By the 2015/16 campaign, the average age had crept up to just a few days shy of 52. Crucially, the 2024/25 season is the first in more than 25 years in which there hasn’t been a manager over the age of 60 – whether that’s pure happenstance or deliberate, you can be the judge.
Head Coaches Getting Younger
Statistically, Premier League head coaches are getting younger, and that is backed by their visual appearance too: the likes of Hurzeler, McKenna and Martin are clean shaven, appear youthful and wear stylish casual attire on the touchline that perhaps takes years off them.
But they’re still able to command the respect of their players, even those that are older than them. As Jason Steele, Brighton’s 33-year-old goalkeeper commented after coming across Hurzeler, two years his junior, for the first time:
The moment he took his first meeting it was, ‘Wow, this guy is here and he is ready’. Everything about him screams boss and that is the biggest compliment I can give him… the respect we have had instantly for him.
Even so, there’s still a burning question to be answered: why are Premier League head coaches getting younger? Is there a competitive advantage to appointing a more youthful manager?
Teaching an Old Dog, New Tricks
They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. That’s slightly presumptuous – perhaps the old dog is progressive and open to new ideas, but there is a general feeling that football managers fit into two camps: There are the gnarled veterans, who line up their teams in a rigid 4-4-2 and who are ‘top blokes’, and then there are the data nerd youngsters, whose obsession with advanced stats and contemporary lingo (pressing, transitions, third man runs, etc.) makes them more appealing to decision-makers at football clubs wanting to portray themselves as modernists.
Don’t forget too that for many head coaches in their thirties, this will be their first or second job. They are yet to become world weary or develop an ego; and therefore they’re more likely to be malleable and receptive to the ideas of a madcap football club owner. It’s ironic that the head coach who triggered football’s contemporary revolution, Pep Guardiola, is now 53 years old, and if he were to announce his decision to leave Manchester City, he would be the hottest free agent in management. And, lest we forget, Pep guided City to the much-desired treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in 2022/23 – not a bad way to see in the sixth decade of your life.
Of course, Pep’s managerial career started at Barcelona B in 2007 when he was just 36 years old. Since then, he’s won 12 domestic league titles and three editions of the Champions League, so maybe it’s not an age thing, but a talent thing – blessed with his own progressive ideas, Guardiola also enjoyed a fine footballing education at Barcelona courtesy of Johan Cruyff and co. He has had to continue involving as a coach, too, right up until his 53rd birthday and older.
The Modern Way
Pep’s success has helped to bring in a new type of manager: those that prefer a possession-heavy style, those that like their teams to press high up the pitch, and those that ‘play football the right way’ – a far cry from the route one antics of days gone by. Jürgen Klopp’s success at Liverpool has helped to frank that paradigm shift in the Premier League, so can you blame the owners and chief executives of EPL clubs from wanting a slice of the same pie?
That’s why decision-makers are hunting down the likes of Iraola, Hurzeler and Oliver Glasner from overseas, or why Leicester City were willing to take a chance on Pep disciple Enzo Maresca in his first senior management role in English football.
It’s a certain playing style that is being sought – a head coach’s intellectual property, if you will – as opposed to a strong reputation and a glittering CV stacked with success and trophies. It feels as if modern football is getting leaner, sharper and more refined. Typically, but not always, it’s younger head coaches that have adapted to that trend, as opposed to their more senior contemporaries.
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