List of longest managerial reigns in association football
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The longest managerial reign in association football belongs to Englishman Fred Everiss, who was manager of Football League team West Bromwich Albion for over 45 years, starting his reign in 1902 and ending when he retired in 1948.[1] The longest post-war reign belongs to Frenchman Guy Roux, who managed Auxerre in three separate reigns totalling 44 years, taking them from France's fifth division to become Division 1 champions in 1996.[2][3]
Managerial reigns in football have decreased since the 1960s, and by 2015, the average spell in England's top four divisions was 1.23 years.[4][5] Managers such as Pep Guardiola and Béla Guttmann have been proponents of a "three-year rule",[6][7] as has football journalist and author Jonathan Wilson, who writes that managers can succumb to a "fatalistic idealism" beyond this period, describing it as similar to a Greek tragedy.[8]