English managers who coached abroad

Football was popularised by the British all over the world in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

In those early days, that influence saw British footballers and managers working across the planet to build the game's popularity.

In more recent times, British managers overseas have been a much more rare commodity, but some have tried their luck far from home – with varying degrees of success.

Here, a look at some English managers who worked abroad, and how they got on...

32. Charlie Trout

Born in Nottingham, Charlie Trout was part of the Leeds United academy as a youngster, before going on to play for Lincoln City.

Released at the age of 19, the midfielder moved to the United States and after working as a builder, a painter and decorator and a postman while playing football at weekends, he got into coaching. Trout worked with the young players at Chicago Fire and later helped out with the Puerto Rico national team. And when his friend Dave Sarachan left the position as head coach, he stepped up to take the job.

31. Gary Smith

Gary Smith came through the youth ranks at Fulham, but the midfielder made just one first-team appearance for the Cottagers and spent his career in the lower leagues.

Smith started his managerial career at Colorado Rapids in 2008 and two years later became the first British coach to win the MLS Cup. After a season back in England at Stevenage in 2012/13, he returned to the United States with Atlanta Silverbacks and later spent seven years at Nashville SC.

30. Darren Bazeley

Former Watford, Wolves and Walsall right-back Darren Bazeley had spells at New Zealand Knights and Waitakere United at the end of his career and later carved out a successful coaching career in the south Pacific nation.

Bazeley started out with New Zealand's Under-17 side in 2011, before two spells with the Under-20 team and another two with the U-23s. He also worked as head coach for the senior side, as assistant and as technical director for the All Whites. At club level, he managed Auckland side Wanderers between 2013 and 2015, and worked as an assistant at MLS outfit Colorado Rapids and Australian club Newcastle Jets.

29. Steven Taylor

Steven Taylor led UAE side Gulf United to back-to-back promotions from the third tier to the nation's top flight in a 19-month spell in charge between January 2022 and August 2023.

In April 2024, the former Newcastle United defender was announced as the new coach of upcoming Dubai-based club Al Qabila.

28. Dean Smith

After a four-year spell at Wallsall between 2011 and 2015, Dean Smith went on to manage Brentford, Aston Villa, Norwich and Leicester over the next eight seasons.

The former centre-back left Leicester after a brief stint at the King Power Stadium in the summer of 2023 and in December, he was appointed as coach of Major League Soccer side Charlotte FC.

27. Nigel Pearson

After a short spell at Derby County in 2016, Nigel Pearson missed out on the vacant Middlesbrough job and was appointed as coach of Belgian second-tier side OH Leuven in September 2017.

After leading Leicester's sister club to second place in the regular season in 2017/18, Pearson was sacked in February 2019 after a difficult start to the campaign, with Leuven bottom of the table.

26. Scott Parker

After spells with Fulham and Bournemouth, Scott Parker was surprisingly appointed as coach of Belgian champions Club Brugge in December 2022.

Parker took over a team that had reached the last 16 of the Champions League, but was sacked after a 7-1 aggregate loss to Benfica, having won just two of his 12 games in charge.

25. Phil Neville

Phil Neville worked as a coach at Valencia under Nuno Espírito Santo and later as an assistant to interim boss Voro and then with his brother Gary at the Mestalla outfit.

After three years in charge of Engand's Lionesses between 2018 and 2021, Neville was appointed coach of Inter Miami. With the Florida outfit bottom of the Eastern Conference, he left that post in June 2023. Following a brief spell on Canada's staff under John Herdman, the former Manchester United and Everton defender took over as Portland Timbers coach in November that year.

24. Steve Bould

Steve Bould spent over a decade at Arsenal between 1988 and 1999 and was part of the club's famous back four alongside Tony Adams, Nigel WInterburn and Lee Dixon. He also scored Arsenal's first goal in the Premier League.

After retirement, Bould led Arsenal's Under-18 side to two Premier Academy League titles and later worked with the U-23 team. In June 2022, he was appointed as coach of Belgian club Lommel SK, part of the City Football Group.

23. Adrian Heath

Adrian Heath began his coaching career as a player-manager at Burnley in March 1996 and after a short spell at Sheffield United and two brief stints as caretaker at Coventry City, the former Everton striker went out to work in the United States.

Heath spent two years at Austin Aztex and later worked at Orlando City between 2010 and 2016, becoming the Florida side's first coach in MLS. Later, he worked for seven seasons at Minnesota United, parting ways with the club in October 2023.

22. Tony Adams

In between disappointing spells in charge of Wycome Wanderers and Portsmouth, Tony Adams worked in the Netherlands with Feyenoord's youth team.

Later, the legendary Arsenal defender took over at Azerbaijani side Gabala in May 2010, but was sacked in November the following year. He also had a brief spell at Granada in 2016/17, but lost all seven of his games and was dismissed at the end of the season following relegation to Spain's second tier.

21. Keith Burkinshaw

Keith Burkinshaw led Tottenham to back-to-back FA Cups win and a UEFA Cup crown in the early 1980s before leaving the north London club in 1984.

After two years with the Bahrain national team, the Yorkshire-born former defender was appointed as coach of Sporting CP in 1987 and steered the Lisbon club to a 4-0 aggregate win over rivals Benfica in the Supertaça, but was sacked in February 1988. He also briefly coached Malaysian state team Pahang in 1991.

20. John Gregory

John Gregory spent four years in charge of Aston Villa between 1998 and 2002, before spells at Derby County and Queens Park Rangers.

After leaving QPR in 2007, the former England midfielder spent a year and a half in Israel, suffering relegation with Maccabi Akhi Nazareth and later resigning from his post at F.C. Ashdod with that club also facing the drop. Gregory also worked briefly in Kazakhstan with FC Kairat in 2011. Later, he had two years at Chennaiyin FC between 2017 and 2019, leading the club to the Indian Super League title in 2017/18. He returned to India with Kerala outfit Malappuram FC in 2024.

19. Will Still

Born in Belgium to English parents, Will Still moved to England at the age of 17 to begin preparations for a career in football management.

Influenced as a teenager by the Football Manager and Championship Manager video games, Still started out at Belgian second-tier side Lierse in 2017. After working as an assistant at Beerschot, he took the top job in 2021. Later that year, he joined historic French club Stade de Reims as an assistant to Óscar García and went on to become the head coach between 2022 and 2024. After leaving by mutual consent, he was appointed as coach by Lens in June 2024.

18. Colin Addison

Colin Addison's managerial career spanned more than 30 years and included several spells away from English football.

The former Nottingham Forest and Arsenal midfielder had a short spell at Qatari side Al-Ahli in 1985/86, before leading Celta Vigo back to La Liga the following season. He then worked as an assistant to Ron Atkinson at West Brom and Atlético Madrid, where he took over as head coach after Atkinson was sacked in December. After steering the Rojiblancos to fifth in La Liga, he had a brief spell at Cádiz and secured the Andalusian club's top-flight status. Addison later managed Kuwaiti club Al-Arabi, before a return to Cádiz in 1993/94 and a season at Badajoz in 1995/96.

17. Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard began his managerial career at Rangers in 2018 and led the Glasgow giants to a Scottish Premier League title in 2020/21.

The Liverpool legend left to manage Aston Villa, but was dismissed after less than a year in charge and moved to the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq in 2023, leading the club to a sixth-placed finish in his first season in charge.

16. Alan Pardew

After almost two decades of managerial experience in English football, Alan Pardew moved to Dutch side ADO Den Haag in 2019.

The former Newcastle, West Ham and Crystal Palace manager spent a single season with the Eredivisie club and later had short spells at Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia and Greek outfit Aris FC.

15. Gary Neville

Gary Neville was a surprise choice to take over at Valencia in November 2015 and the former Manchester United and England defender's time at Mestalla was not a success.

Neville's side were humbled by Barcelona in a 7-0 loss at Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey and with Valencia having won only three of his 16 La Liga games and not kept a clean sheet in the competition, he was sacked in March 2016.

14. Steve Perryman

After making a record 866 appearances at Tottenham in the 1970s and 1980s, Steve Perryman had a short spell at Oxford United and finished his career as a player-manager at Brentford.

Perryman went on to manage Watford, before working briefly as a caretaker at Tottenham and then at Norwegian club Start in 1995. He later worked as an assistant to former Spurs team-mate Ossie Ardiles at Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse, taking the top job after the Argentine's departure and finishing as second stage champions in the J. League in 1999. He also won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup the following year and, after leaving in 2000, had a short spell at Kashiwa Reysol.

13. John Herdman

Born in County Durham, John Herdman worked as a development coach for Sunderland's youth academy until 2001.

He then moved to New Zealand and later worked as coach of the women's national team between 2006 and 2011. A seven-year spell with Canada's women followed and in 2018, he was appointed coach of the men's side. After leading the Reds to the 2022 World Cup, he was critical of a lack of funding and resources and left the post in 2023 to take over at Toronto FC.

12. Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson left West Brom to take over at Atlético Madrid in October 1988 and kicked off with a 6-1 win over Espanyol in La Liga.

Despite decent results overall, Atkinson was dismissed after just over 90 days in charge due to a fall-out with the club's eccentric owner Jesús Gil. He never worked outside England again.

11. Howard Kendall

Howard Kendall enjoyed great success in his first spell as Everton manager between 1984 and 1987, winning two First Division titles, an FA Cup and a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

After leaving the Toffees, Kendall spent just over two years with Athletic Club and led the Basque side to fourth place in La Liga in his first season. He was sacked in November 1989 after a run of disappointing results.

10. Graham Potter

Before he came to prominence at Swansea City in 2018/19 and impressed at Brighton & Hove Albion between 2019 and 2022, Graham Potter spent seven years in Swedish football with Östersunds FK.

Potter led Östersund from Sweden's fourth tier to the top flight, won a Swedish Cup in 2017 and qualified the club for European competition for the first time in its history.

9. Keith Spurgeon

Keith Spurgeon came through the youth system at Tottenham and the defender played for several lower league sides in the 1950s.

Switching his focus to management, Spurgeon worked away from England for his entire career. After a spell at Ajax in 1961/62, he managed Dutch sides Blauw-Wit Amsterdam (twice), Heracles Almelo and AGOVV. He later took charge of the Libyan national team, managed Dallas Tornado, Belgian club K.V. Mechelen, Cypriot outfit APOEL and Swedish sides AIK and Landskrona. He died of motor neurone disease in Sweden in 1984.

8. Malcolm Allison

Malcolm Allison enjoyed huge success as an assistant to Joe Mercer at Manchester City in the late 1960s and went on to manage the club in his own right, before a three-year spell at Crystal Palace between 1973 and 1976.

After that, Allison worked for a season in Turkey with Galatasaray. He later spent the 1981/82 campaign at Sporting CP and led the Lisbon club to a league and cup double. Sporting did not win the league again until 1999/2000. After a short spell in charge of the Kuwait national team, he returned to Portugal in the mid-1980s with Vitória Setúbal and later SC Farense.

7. Steve McClaren

Steve McClaren was a surprise appointment at Dutch side FC Twente in May 2008 and the former England manager led the club to their first-ever Eredivisie title in 2010.

Despite that success, McClaren left to join Bundesliga side Wolfsburg and became the first Englishman to manage a top-flight German team. He was sacked after poor results in February 2011. He took over as coach of Jamaica in 2024.

6. Stuart Baxter

Born in Wolverhampton, Stuart Baxter had spells in Australia, Sweden and the United States as a player and has spent almost all of his managerial career outside the UK.

Baxter's first job as manager was with the youth team at Swedish side Örebro in 1985, where he had finished his career as a player in 1983/84. Since then, he has coached a number of other Swedish sides (Halmstad, AIK and Helsingborg twice), two Norwegian teams (IF Skarp and Lyn), Japanese outfits Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Vissel Kobe (twice), Vitória Setúbal of Portugal, Turkey's Gençlerbirliği, South African pair Kaizer Chiefs (two spells) and SuperSport United and India's Odisha. He has also had two spells with South Africa's national team and another with Finland. 

5. Vic Buckingham

After retiring at Tottenham in 1949, Vic Buckingham embarked on a long managerial career which took him to clubs in England, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus.

Buckingham had two spells at Ajax, winning the Dutch title in 1960 and handing a debut to Johan Cruyff in 1964. He also won a Spanish Cup with Barcelona and went on to work again in La Liga with Sevilla. Much of his later career was spent in Greece, where he had two spells at Ethnikos Piraeus and one each at Olympiacos and Rodos. His last job was at Cypriot side Enosis Neon Paralimni in 1982.

4. Terry Venables

Terry Venables was recommended to Barcelona's board by Bobby Robson in the early 1980s and took over as coach at the Catalan club in 1984.

After leading the Blaugrana to a first La Liga title in over a decade, Venables won the Copa de La Liga in 1986 but fell agonisingly short in the European Cup as Barça lost the final to Steaua Bucharest on penalties that same year. Venables later managed Australia, but missed out on World Cup qualification in a play-off against Iran on away goals in 1997.

3. Roy Hodgson

Roy Hodgson's coaching career began way back in 1976 at Swedish side Halmstad. The veteran English manager also worked in Örebro and Malmö, where he won two Swedish titles in the 1980s.

He also won a Swiss Cup with Neuchâtel Xamax in 1990 and then took over the Switzerland national team for three years. After that, he led Inter to the UEFA Cup final in a two-year spell and later returned as a caretaker in 1999. He then had spells at Grasshoppers, FC Copenhagen and Udinese, before briefly managing the UAE, a stint in Finland with Viking and then just under two years with the Finnish national team.

2. Jimmy Hogan

An early exponent of possession-based football, Jimmy Hogan's managerial career spanned 40 years – and two World Wars – between 1910 and 1950 and the Burnley-born former inside forward is considered one of the most influential coaches in the history of football.

Most of Hogan's career was spent on the continent – in Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. He laid the foundations for MTK Budapest's dominantion of Hungarian football, won a Swiss title with Young Boys Bern and had spells in charge of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, he was offered a contract by the Central German Football Association to coach boys and is thought to have instructed more than 5,000 young players. Upon his death in 1974, he was described as "the father of football in modern Germany" by the head of the German Football Association.

1. Bobby Robson

After leaving his job as England manager in 1990, Bobby Robson spent almost a decade working in the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Robson led PSV Eindhoven to back-to-back Dutch titles in 1991 and 1992. After just over a year at Sporting CP, he spent two-and-a-half seasons at Porto and won two Portuguese titles. In a season at Barcelona, he won the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa and the European Cup Winners' Cup but was moved upstairs to allow for the appointment of Louis van Gaal. In 1998/99, he returned to PSV for a season and early in his career, he had a spell at Vancouver Whitecaps.