Calum McFarlane
English football manager (born 1985)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Calum McFarlane (born 13 November 1985) is an English professional football coach who is interim head coach of Premier League club Chelsea.
Prior to his time at Chelsea, McFarlane held assistant manager positions at non-league sides Croydon and Whyteleafe as well as youth team positions at Manchester City and Southampton.
Managerial career
Croydon
McFarlane was assistant manager of non-league side Croydon.
Whyteleafe
In 2018, Croydon first team head coach Harry Hudson departed for Whyteleafe, taking McFarlane with him.[2]
Manchester City
In 2020, Whyteleafe announced that McFarlane would be departing for Manchester City.[3] He served an assistant role in the Manchester City Academy until 2023.[4]
Southampton
McFarlane left City to join the Southampton Academy, leading the Under-18s until 2025. In February 2025, he became head coach of the club's Under-21s.[5][6]
Chelsea
McFarlane departed Southampton in July 2025 when he became the coach of Chelsea's Under-21s, while also leading the Under-19s during their 2025–26 UEFA Youth League campaign.[7][4]
On 2 January 2026, a day after first team manager Enzo Maresca left Chelsea by mutual consent,[8] McFarlane became the interim manager of the club ahead of their Premier League fixture against Manchester City, resulting in a 1–1 draw.[9][10][11] On 6 January, Chelsea named Liam Rosenior as their full-time manager.[12] However, McFarlane remained in charge of Chelsea's league match against Fulham.[13]
On 8 January 2026, it was announced that McFarlane would join the backroom staff of new head coach Liam Rosenior.[14] When Rosenior was sacked on 22 April 2026, McFarlane was once again promoted to interim head coach until the end of the season.[15]
On 26 April 2026, McFarlane won his first ever match as he guided Chelsea to a 1–0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-final. He thus became the first English manager to reach the FA Cup final since Frank Lampard in 2020.[16]
