Are Premier League managers getting younger? Yes & no – the numbers crunched

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Postecoglou oldest current boss at 59 

©TM/IMAGO

After taking up his new post at Manchester United this Monday, Rúben Amorim became the fourth manager in his 30s currently at a Premier League club. Including the new Portuguese boss, there are now eight managers aged 45 or younger in the English top-flight. And there is certainly a perception that managers in the Premier League are getting younger. Many teams are now moving away from appointing the old guard of bosses, and making riskier appointments for managers with less experience, hoping their innovative ideas can lead their clubs towards longer-term success. The phones of the likes of Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis, and Steve Bruce are ringing far less often. There was a time, where that breed of experienced manager was often called upon to keep teams in the Premier League.

Young managers seem to be filtering down the English football pyramid too. Ipswich and Southampton were promoted to the Premier League with managers in their 30s, whilst Portsmouth won League One with a 38-year-old John Mousinho as their boss. But are Premier League managers really getting that much younger? At Transfermarkt, we have crunched the numbers to find out – and from the results some interesting conclusions can be drawn. In many ways the answer is yes and no.

As illustrated in the graphic above, when it comes to the average age of the 20 Premier League managers in each season since it became a 20 team league in 1994, the very first season (1994/95) actually had the youngest average age of just 45.6 years. The youngest boss that term was a 36-year-old Glenn Hoddle, whilst the oldest was a 55-year-old Ron Atkinson. However, as can be identified, this season still comes in as the fifth youngest average from the 31 seasons in question, with an average age of just 46.7 years on the first game-week of this season. To make the statistics fair, each season’s average age is taken from the 20 bosses in charge on the first match-day of each campaign. Following 39-year-old Amorim replacing 54-year-old Erik ten Hag, the average age has now dropped to 46.25 this season, which would move this term up to second on the list.

If we isolate the last 15 seasons, as shown above, this season boasted the youngest average age of managers from those campaigns. The second youngest season was also two years ago in the 2022/23 campaign. When Brighton made the left-field choice to appoint St Pauli Boss Fabian Hürzeler as the departing Roberto De Zerbi’s successor in the summer, the German became the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history at just 31 years of age. In the Seagulls opening game at Everton (which they won 3-0) five of Brighton’s starting XI were older than the manager, with 38-year-old midfielder James Milner eight years Hürzeler’s senior.

“For me it’s always about good or bad. It’s not about age – it’s the same for the players.” said Hürzeler back in October. If we look at the youngest manager in the Premier League in each of the last 15 seasons (as exhibited in the graphic below) we can see that the youngest boss has been in their 30’s in 12 of the last 15 campaigns. Prior to Hürzeler’s appointment, the youngest ever permanent Premier League manager had been Chris Coleman, who was just over 33 years old when he was permanently given the Fulham job back in 2003. If we take into account caretaker managers, then Ryan Mason would be the youngest ever – he was 29 when holding the fort for Tottenham back in 2021.

As shown above, there is a pretty consistent theme in the last 15 years of there being at least one young manager in the Premier League each term, but we perhaps notice more of a continual trend when we look at who the oldest manager has been each season. It may surprise some supporters to know Spurs’ Ange Postecoglou is the current oldest manager in the Premier League at 59 years of age. This season is just the second campaign in the last 15 years where the oldest manager has been in his 50s – the other the 2022/23 season with 59-year-old David Moyes.

Just last season, Roy Hodgson was the oldest manager in Premier League history at 76, but his departure from Crystal Palace last February seemed to reflect the last nail in the coffin of managers from his generation (and probably the one below him too) getting Premier League jobs. Innovation, tactical flexibility and top level intricate coaching are more important than ever in the modern game. With that, has come the idea (which could be accused of being slight football snobbery) that the older generation of managers aren’t quite in touch with what’s needed in the Premier League today.

Wrong or right, there is certainly a trend in more younger managers, whom have less experience, landing bigger jobs. When Arsenal appointed 38-year-old Mikel Arteta, who had never managed a team. it was met with widespread shock and apprehension due to his lack of experience. But despite not earning his stripes elsewhere in management, Arteta has done a stellar job to move Arsenal up the league and move the club from eighth place to challenging for the title. Nevertheless, the average age of Premier League managers today is not a new phenomenon, with the very first 20-team season boasting a younger average age. Therefore, the swing towards younger bosses is perhaps not as revolutionary as some might think, but there is undeniably been a shift in club’s thinking, and the perception of what makes a qualified Premier League manager today.