MOST SUCCESSFUL MANAGERS EVER!

Here’s our rundown of the most successful managers in football. These ex-professional footballers all went into football management at various stages of their careers. They have all had success with their respective teams in topflight football leagues both domestically and internationally. Whilst it is almost impossible to rate these giants of football, we have attempted to put them in to our Top 5 format based on career history, successes and trophies won in the various campaigns they have presided over, so here we go…

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho launched his career in management when he got the chance to become a toptier manager in September 2000 and moved up from his role as assistant manager at Benfica to replace manager Jupp Heynckes after the fourth week of the Primeira Liga.

BENFICA AND UNIAO DE LEIRIA 2000 - 2002

de Leiria, he won the UEFA Champions League with Porto in 2004, only a year after lifting the UEFA Europa League trophy in his first full season as manager.

The Portuguese had previously had a semi-professional football career before making his coaching breakthrough in the backroom staff of Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona.

Mourinho also won back-to-back Portuguese league titles and two domestic cup competitions at Porto before Chelsea came calling.

PORTO 2002 - 2004

After brief but successful stints in charge at Benfica and Uniao

CHELSEA 2004 - 2007

Mourinho started his Premier League career in London when he was named manager of Chelsea in June 2004, before leaving early in the 2007/08 campaign.

In his first campaign at Stamford Bridge in 2004/05, Chelsea won their first top-flight title for 50 years with a record haul of 95 points.

They retained the Premier League crown a year later and won the FA Cup and the League Cup twice with Mourinho in charge.

INTER MILAN 2008 - 2010

Mourinho left Chelsea in 2007 and his next managerial role came with Inter Milan, where he won the Serie A title and the Italian Super Cup in his first season.

Inter then retained the title while winning the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League in a memorable 2009/10 campaign.

REAL MADRID 2010 - 2013

Real Madrid appointed Mourinho as their coach in the summer of 2010, going on to win the Copa del Rey in 2011 and edge Barcelona to the 2011/12 La Liga title.

CHELSEA 2013 – 2015

But after three years at the Bernabeu, Mourinho returned to England ahead of the 2013/14 Premier League season for a second spell with Chelsea. He returned to the Blues on 3 June 2013, nine years and a day after getting his first taste of management in England’s top tier. In his first season back at Stamford Bridge, he guided the Blues to third place, four points away from title winners Manchester City.

In the 2014/15 campaign Mourinho earned a third League Cup triumph with Chelsea after a 2-0 win over Spurs at Wembley Stadium. A third Premier League title was then secured following a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace on Sunday 3 May 2015. Chelsea’s fortunes were to change in the following campaign and Mourinho left the club by mutual consent on 17 December 2015, departing for a second time with the Blues sat in 16th place and one point above the relegation zone.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2016 – 2018

In May 2016, Mourinho signed a three-year deal as manager of Manchester United. In his first season in charge the club won the Community Shield, the League Cup and the UEFA Europa League. The Red Devils finished second behind their city rivals in 2017/18 and lost the FA Cup final to Mourinho’s former club, Chelsea. Mourinho left Manchester United in December 2018, with the club lying in sixth place after 17 matches.