Average top-flight manager tenure across Europe less than 16 months, says Uefa
The average tenure of a manager across Europe’s top divisions last season was less than 16 months, according to a report by European governing body Uefa.
There were 735 top-flight dismissals across Europe in 2022/23, the second-highest on record.
The Premier League saw a record 15 changes of permanent manager.
According to the report, of the 1,209 serving top-flight managers across the continent less than 5% have been in their job five or more years.
In their in-depth research document ‘European Club Talent and Competition Landscape’, Uefa says the average managerial tenure across 48 European top leagues in 2022-23 was 1.31 years, the lowest since 2018 (1.3 years).
The lowest average in the past decade was 1.29 years in 2016, down from 1.44 years in 2013, highlighting the increasingly precarious nature of football management.
The season with the most managerial changes was 2020-21 when 763 managers were sacked, which Uefa says was because of clubs catching up after deferring coaching changes in the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was a total of 41 managers in the Premier League last season, with six clubs having three people in charge for at least one league game. Chelsea and Leeds both had four.
The 55% of Premier League teams making a change is the largest percentage of the ‘big five’ European leagues. France and Spain were close behind with 50%, Germany 44% and Italy 35%.
When factoring in caretaker or interim bosses there were 22 changes of manager in the Premier League last season, the joint highest across the ‘big five’ along with France.
There has already been one manager change in 2023-24, with Julen Lopetegui quitting Wolves the week before the season started in August and being replaced by Gary O’Neil.
