Skip to content

Which team has had the most managers in English football?

How many managers has your club had?

Good news for Slaven Bilic - in the history of English football, West Ham United have given their managers more time than any other club.

Since becoming professional, West Ham have had just 17 managers, who have reigned for an average of 2,431 days, according to a Sky Sports study of soccerbase.com data.

That equates to over six-and-a-half years per manager - although Syd King, who led the club into the Football League, was in charge for 11,172 days between 1902 and 1932. 

Charlie Paynter (6,482 days, 1932-1950), John Lyall (5,407 days, 1974-1989), Ron Greenwood (4,885 days, 1961-1974) and Ted Fenton (3,895 days, 1950-1961) also enjoyed prolonged periods in charge at the Boleyn Ground.

Manchester United, with an average manager tenure of 2,017 days, Everton (1,957 days), Liverpool (1,941 days) and Arsenal (1,941 days) also historically give their managers plenty of time in charge. 

Of clubs to have had more than 10 managers, the shortest tenures are on average at Barnet (523 days) and Wigan Athletic (599 days)

However, it is Notts County who have had the most managers in history - 57 men have taken charge of the club. 

Also See:

The longest-serving manager was West Brom's Fred Everiss, who held the post for 16,740 days between 1902 and 1948.

Only current Premier League and Football League clubs were included in the study and, with caretaker managers excluded, only managers who served 25 days or more were counted - with the notable exceptions of Kevin Cullis (seven days) and Micky Adams (13 days) for Swansea, and Dave Bassett (four days) for Crystal Palace.

Average manager tenure in days
Image: Average manager tenure in days

The study also highlights the trend of manager tenures significantly decreasing over time.

In 1947, the average manager tenure was 2,555 days - in 2014, it was just 429 days. League Two Newport County and League One Oldham have both had four different managers in 2015.

You can see how many managers your club have appointed and the average manager tenure at your side in the tables below.

Get Sky Sports Alerts
Get Sky Sports Alerts

Breaking news, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - direct to your mobile