List of Chelsea F.C. managers

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The first manager of Chelsea was John Robertson, who was appointed player-manager in 1905.

Roberto Di Matteo is the first manager to have won the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea.

Chelsea have had 34 permanent managers/head coaches (four of whom also served as player-manager), seven interim managers and seven caretakers. Ron Suart and Calum McFarlane have served as both caretaker and interim manager. José Mourinho has served two different spells as permanent manager, while Guus Hiddink has been interim manager twice. Roberto Di Matteo was initially appointed as interim manager, but was later given the job on a permanent basis, while Frank Lampard was a permanent manager, and later returned for a short spell as interim manager.

Chelsea's first ever manager was Scottish wing-half John Tait Robertson, who continued to play for the club until he resigned a year later. David Calderhead is Chelsea's longest-serving manager, holding the position from 1907 to 1933, spanning 966 matches. Chelsea's shortest reigning permanent manager is Liam Rosenior, who was in charge for 23 games. Statistically, Chelsea's least successful manager is Frank Lampard during his second stint.

The first manager under whom Chelsea won a major trophy was Ted Drake, who guided the club to the league championship in the 1954–55 season, while Dave Sexton managed the club to their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph in 1971, and Gianluca Vialli guided Chelsea to win the 1998 UEFA Super Cup. Mourinho has won the most domestic titles, and total titles with the club (in fact, all titles won with Mourinho were domestic titles – eight in total); Vialli won the second most titles with five, whereas Carlo Ancelotti led Chelsea to their first league and FA Cup Double in 2010.

Di Matteo led Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title in 2012. A year later, Rafael Benítez led the club to the UEFA Europa League, and so Chelsea became the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs, and the first British club, to have won all three of UEFA's major club competitions. In February 2022, Thomas Tuchel led Chelsea to its first FIFA Club World Cup. He is also the coach to have won the most international titles with the club; all three of his titles were international.

List of managers

Statistics correct as of 24 May 2026.

Key

  • Includes competitive matches only.
  • This table of all managers includes performance records and honours.
  • M = matches managed; W = matches won; D = matches drawn; L = matches lost; GF = goals for; GA = goals against; GD = goal difference; Win% = percentage of total matches won.
More information Picture, Name ...
PictureNameNationalityFromToDaysMWDLGFGAGDWin%HonoursNotesRef.
John Tait Robertson  Scotland1 August 190527 November 19064835433101112657+69061.11 – [a][b] [1]
William Lewis  England27 November 19061 August 19072472717555425+29062.96 – [c] [1]
David Calderhead  Scotland1 August 19078 May 19339,4129663852393421,3781,304+74039.86 – [a] [1]
Leslie Knighton  England8 May 193319 April 19392,1722699269108413442−29034.20 – [a] [1]
Billy Birrell  Scotland19 April 193931 May 19524,7912939777119416465−49033.11 – [a] [1]
Ted Drake  England1 June 195230 September 19613,408426156103167774780−6036.62 [a] [1][2]
Tommy Docherty  Scotland1 October 19616 October 19672,1963031426596527424+103046.86 [a] [1]
Ron Suart  England6 October 196723 October 196717201118−7000.00 – [d] [1]
Dave Sexton  England23 October 19673 October 19742,537371164107100568432+136044.20 [a] [1]
Ron Suart (2)  England3 October 197416 April 197519534812143862−24023.53 – [c] [1]
Eddie McCreadie  Scotland16 April 19751 July 197780797373327141123+18038.14 – [a] [1][3]
Ken Shellito  England7 July 197713 December 19785246615193277115−38022.73 – [a] [1]
Danny Blanchflower  Northern Ireland14 December 197811 September 19792713258193468−34015.63 – [a] [1]
Geoff Hurst  England13 September 197923 April 19815888135192710889+19043.21 – [a] [1]
Bobby Gould  England23 April 198128 May 198135200205−5000.00 – [d] [1]
John Neal  England28 May 198111 June 19851,475203846158326253+73041.38 [a][e] [1]
John Hollins  England11 June 19856 March 1988999145563851199217−18038.62 [a][f] [1]
Bobby Campbell  England6 March 198812 May 19911,162165774741287233+54046.67 [a][g] [1]
Ian Porterfield  Scotland11 June 199115 February 199361590312831106118−12034.44 – [a][h] [1]
David Webb  England15 February 199311 May 199385135441918+1038.46 – [c] [1][4]
Glenn Hoddle  England4 June 199310 May 19961,071157535450192183+9033.76 – [a][b][i] [1][5]
Ruud Gullit  Netherlands10 May 199612 February 199864383411824158109+49049.40 [a][b][j] [1][6][7]
Gianluca Vialli  Italy12 February 199812 September 2000943143763829224123+101053.15 [a][b] [1][8][9]
Graham Rix  England13 September 200017 September 20004210112−1050.00 – [d] [1][8][10]
Claudio Ranieri  Italy18 September 200031 May 20041,3511991074646358197+161053.77 – [a] [11][12][13]
José Mourinho  Portugal2 June 200420 September 20071,2051851244021330119+211067.03 [a][k] [14][15][16]
Avram Grant  Israel20 September 200724 May 200824754361359736+61066.67 – [a][l] [1][17][18][19]
Luiz Felipe Scolari  Brazil1 July 20089 February 200922336201156624+42055.56 – [a][m] [1][20][21]
Ray Wilkins  England9 February 200916 February 20097110031+2100.00 – [d] [22][23]
Guus Hiddink  Netherlands16 February 200931 May 20091042216514119+22072.73 [c] [24]
Carlo Ancelotti  Italy1 July 200922 May 201169010967202224194+147061.47 [a][n] [1][25][26]
André Villas-Boas  Portugal22 June 20114 March 2012256401911106943+26047.50 – [a][o] [1][27][28]
Roberto Di Matteo  Italy4 March 201221 November 20122624224999156+35057.14 [a][p] [1][29]
Rafael Benítez  Spain21 November 201229 May 2013189482810109949+50058.33 [c] [30]
José Mourinho (2)  Portugal3 June 201317 December 2015927136802927245121+124058.82 [a][q] [16]
Steve Holland  England18 December 201520 December 20152110031+2100.00 – [d] [31]
Guus Hiddink (2)  Netherlands20 December 20153 July 201619627101165234+18037.04 – [c] [24]
Antonio Conte  Italy3 July 201613 July 2018740106691720212102+110065.09 [a][r] [32]
Maurizio Sarri  Italy14 July 201816 June 20193376339131111258+54061.90 [a][s] [1][33]
Frank Lampard  England4 July 201925 January 202157184441723163106+57052.38 – [a][t] [1][34]
Thomas Tuchel  Germany26 January 20217 September 202258910060241616877+91060.00 [a][u] [1][35]
Graham Potter  England8 September 20222 April 202320631128113331+2038.71 – [a] [1]
Bruno Saltor  Spain2 April 20236 April 20234101000+0000.00 – [d] [1]
Frank Lampard (2)  England6 April 202330 June 20238511128921−12009.09 – [c] [1][34]
Mauricio Pochettino  Argentina1 July 202321 May 20243255126111410374+29050.98 – [a] [1][36]
Enzo Maresca  Italy1 July 20241 January 20265499255162119198+93059.78 [a] [37][38]
Calum McFarlane  England1 January 20268 January 20267201123−1000.00 – [d] [39][40]
Liam Rosenior  England8 January 202622 April 202610423112104738+9047.83 – [a] [41][42][43]
Calum McFarlane (2)  England22 April 2026Present33621368−2033.33 – [c] [40]
Xabi Alonso  Spain1 July 2026TBD0000000+0!— – [a] [44]
Total1 August 1905Present43,8885,4942,4621,3731,6598,9087,065+1843044.81 38 trophies – –
Close

Notes

  1. [a]
    Permanent manager.
  2. [b]
    Player-manager.
  3. [c]
    Interim manager.
  4. [d]
    Caretaker manager.
  5. [e]
    Win percentage includes one Football League Cup two-legged round won on penalties.
  6. [f]
    Win percentage includes one drawn Full Members' Cup match won on penalties.
  7. [g]
    Win percentage includes one drawn Full Members' Cup match lost on penalties.
  8. [h]
    Win percentage includes one drawn Full Members' Cup match won on penalties.
  9. [i]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn FA Cup match lost on penalties, and one drawn FA Cup match won on penalties.
  10. [j]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn FA Charity Shield match lost on penalties, and two drawn Football League Cup matches won on penalties.
  11. [k]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn Football League Cup match lost on penalties, one UEFA Champions League two-legged round lost on penalties, and one drawn FA Community Shield match lost on penalties.
  12. [l]
    Win percentage includes one drawn UEFA Champions League final lost on penalties.
  13. [m]
    Win percentage includes one drawn Football League Cup match lost on penalties.
  14. [n]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn FA Community Shield match won on penalties, one drawn Football League Cup match lost on penalties, and one drawn FA Cup match lost on penalties.
  15. [o]
    Win percentage includes one drawn Football League Cup match won on penalties.
  16. [p]
    Win percentage includes one drawn UEFA Champions League final won on penalties.
  17. [q]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn UEFA Super Cup match lost on penalties, and one drawn Football League Cup match lost on penalties.
  18. [r]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn FA Community Shield match lost on penalties, and one drawn FA Cup match won on penalties.
  19. [s]
    Win percentage includes: one EFL Cup two-legged round won on penalties, one drawn EFL Cup final lost on penalties, and one UEFA Europa League two-legged round won on penalties.
  20. [t]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn UEFA Super Cup match lost on penalties, and one drawn EFL Cup match lost on penalties.
  21. [u]
    Win percentage includes: one drawn UEFA Super Cup match won on penalties, one drawn EFL Cup match won on penalties, one drawn EFL Cup final lost on penalties, and one drawn FA Cup final lost on penalties.

References

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