Pep Guardiola has joined an exclusive group of managers after becoming just the fifth man to win 10 or more major honours with an English club.
Manchester City were crowned as Premier League champions last weekend, with Guardiola having led the club to five top-flight titles in just six seasons.
It’s been an era of domestic dominance for the Citizens, who have now won three Premier League titles in a row and Guardiola has joined the ranks of the most decorated managers English football has seen.
Here are the five managers to win 10+ major honours with English clubs.
George Ramsay
George Ramsay was the man responsible for Aston Villa’s ‘Golden Era’ as the club became England’s most successful side during the formative years of the Football League.
Having represented the club before retirement, Ramsay has been described as football’s first professional manager after being appointed at Aston Villa in 1886. Under his guidance, Villa emerged as the most successful side in the country and won six league titles and six FA Cups, remaining England’s most decorated side until the 1960s.
Ramsay held his position as manager – then titled as secretary but responsible for the team and recruitment – for more than four decades, eventually retiring due to health issues in 1926.
Only one manager – Fred Everiss, who was secretary-manager of West Bromwich Albion for 46 years from 1902 to 1948 – has ever had a longer reign in English football.
Bob Paisley
Bob Paisley is regarded as one of British football’s all-time greats and spent almost 50 years associated with Liverpool in various roles.
Paisley made 253 appearances for the club as a player, before rising through the ranks of the backroom staff to succeed, reluctantly, Bill Shankly as the club’s manager. Having formed part of Liverpool’s famous ‘Boot Room’, he went on to win 20 trophies between 1974 and 1983.
#OnThisDay in 1974, the humble genius Bob Paisley became Liverpool manager 📅
A true Reds legend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eTyTeRt5Re
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 26, 2022
Paisley built on the foundations Shankly created to turn Liverpool into England and Europe’s dominant force, with his list of honours including six league titles, three League Cups, a UEFA Cup and three European Cups.
He remains one of just three managers to have won that latter title on three or more occasions, alongside Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, and was the first to achieve the feat. Paisley is the most successful English manager of all time.
Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most decorated football manager of all time having overseen Manchester United’s early dominance of the Premier League.
Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford after a successful stint at Aberdeen that saw the Scot break up the Old Firm dominance north of the border and lift three Scottish league championships, four Scottish Cups and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
After a challenging start in England he won his first trophy with the FA Cup in 1990, before ending Manchester United’s 26-year wait for the league title during the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93.
Sir Alex Ferguson was tasked with rebuilding @ManUtd and returning them to the pinnacle of English football. He did that, and then some. This is his story.#PLHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/TonZm4Z5tM
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 29, 2023
United went on to win 13 league titles, five FA Cups and two Champions Leagues under Ferguson, who won a staggering 38 trophies across his 26-year spell in charge.
His list of achievements includes winning three consecutive Premier League titles twice, while he is the first – and so far only – manager to have won a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble after leading United to the historic feat in 1998/99.
Ferguson’s greatness saw him rebuild and refresh teams without losing competitiveness and Man United never finished lower than third in 22 consecutive campaigns between 1992 and 2013. He retired after leading the Red Devils to the title during his final season in charge in 2012/13.
Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger was the aforementioned Ferguson’s great managerial rival, with the Frenchman’s Arsenal side competing with Manchester United for major honours across the turn of the millennium.
The two shared eight consecutive Premier League titles between 1996 and 2004, with Arsenal crowned champions on three occasions under Wenger.
Wenger had arrived as a relative unknown from Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight, but made an almost immediate impact and was credited with pioneering sports science methods in English football. His first full season saw Arsenal win a Premier League and FA Cup double in 1997/98, before repeating the feat in 2001/02.
When you think of beautiful football, you think of Arsene Wenger’s @Arsenal. This is his story.#PLHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/s5Q79bUdUa
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 29, 2023
Wenger’s greatest triumph came in 2003/04 as Arsenal ended the season as champions without losing a game, becoming the first team since Preston North End in the inaugural 1888/89 Football League season to achieve the feat in the top flight.
Wenger – nicknamed “Le Professeur” – spent almost 22 years in charge of Arsenal and holds the record for most FA Cup wins with seven.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has cemented his status as one of English football’s most successful managers during a decorated spell in charge of Manchester City.
Guardiola has taken just seven seasons to win 10 major trophies in England and that total could rise further this season as City chase a historic treble.
Guardiola failed to win a major trophy during a first season of adaptation to the Premier League, but has since collected honours and broken records at an astonishing rate. He has won five of the last six Premier League titles, won four League Cups and an FA Cup.
Is Pep Guardiola the most influential manager of all time? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/hr4FU8vR7L
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) May 22, 2023
City became the first team in Premier League history to reach 100 points in a season in 2017/18, before breaking uncharted ground with English football’s first domestic treble the following year.
This season’s title success saw the Citizens become just the fifth club in English football history to win three consecutive titles and Guardiola’s side are targeting a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, with the finals of the latter two competitions still to come.
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