Michael Beale had a short-lived playing career, but his true calling came in the world of coaching with spells at QPR, Rangers and Sunderland.

Beale only played football until the age of 21 after failing to make the grade at Charlton Athletic, FC Twente and several American teams.

He stepped into youth team coaching at Chelsea and then Liverpool, before making the step up to the first team staff.

His first managerial role came at QPR in June 2022 and after making an impressive start to his new job in West London, Rangers swooped and lured him to Scotland that November.

But Beale's stint in Glasgow lasted just 307 days as he left Rangers at the start of October 2023, with the club seven points adrift of Celtic in the Premiership following their third league defeat of the season against Aberdeen.

In December 2023, Beale returned to management after taking over at Championship side Sunderland, but the role lasted just 12 games.

Early coaching career at Chelsea and Liverpool

Beale was hired by Chelsea as a part-time youth coach for both their under-7s and under-9s teams.

During his time at the London club, he coached the likes of Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke, who both went on to play in the Premier League.

After leaving his role at Chelsea, due to the lack of academy players reaching the first-team squad, he moved to Liverpool's coaching their academy sides. He initially coached the under-16s then took over the under-23s.

It was at Liverpool where he first worked alongside club legend and then under-18 manager Steven Gerrard.

Beale's stint at Sao Paulo

Despite stating that the opportunity of becoming an assistant manager came too soon for him, Beale traded his Liverpool Under-23s post for the assistant role at Brazilian outfit Sao Paulo in 2017.

He was personally invited by then manager Rogerio Ceni after the Brazilian experienced Beale's coaching methods during a Football Association coaching course.

The pair only lasted six months after Ceni was sacked due to poor performance in both the league and cup. Beale then returned to Merseyside and coached the youth teams.

Beale's first Rangers spell

Beale returned to Liverpool's youth coaching set-up for a short spell before he took up the role of assistant manager under Gerrard at Rangers

Beale was chosen specifically by Gerrard to become his assistant during his time there after the pair had worked together in the youth set up at Liverpool.

Alongside for Scotland international Gary McAllister, the trio helped changed the fortunes of Rangers and guided the club to their first league title in ten years

Beale was reportedly the mastermind behind the Gers training sessions and was one of the key reasons why the club managed to stop Celtic winning 10 titles in a row.

However, the Gerrard era at Rangers didn't last long and during the following season Aston Villa brought him to the Premier League after Dean Smith was sacked.

Beale and McAllister followed Gerrard to the Birmingham-based club, but they failed to have the same impact and Villa finished 14th in the Premier League.

Beale's first managerial roles

In the summer of 2022, Beale was offered his first major managerial role as the boss of Championship side Queens Park Rangers.

QPR placed a lot of trust into a coach that hadn't ever managed a team outside of youth football, but it appeared to pay off as he led the side to the top of the Championship by October 2022.

His decision to leave Gerrard and Villa was further vindicated after his former boss was given the sack by the Premier League club that same month.

Beale's loyalty was tested after Bruno Lage's sacking as Wolverhampton Wanderers approached him to become their manager. Despite it being a step up in divisions, Beale declined the offer stating he can't be the "can't be the first person to run away from the ship."

Then just a month later Rangers came knocking and lured him back to Scotland, which incurred the wrath of many QPR fans.

Beale's return to Rangers

On November 28 2022, Beale returned to Rangers as the manager of the first team on a three-and-a-half-year deal replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Beale made a strong start to life in the Rangers hot seat and was named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for December.

He took Rangers to the 2023 League Cup final, but they were beaten 2-1 by rivals Celtic at Hampden. The club finished second in the league seven points behind their bitter local rivals.

Beale's stint in Glasgow didn't last much longer as he was sacked in October 2023 after a 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Ibrox, with the players again booed off the park.

A third loss in seven Premiership fixtures left the Light Blues seven points behind leaders Celtic and with their title hopes already in jeopardy.

Beale never recovered from the 1-0 defeat by an under-strength Hoops side at Ibrox in September, with four subsequent wins in three different competitions doing little to appease disgruntled supporters.

Beale revamped his squad in the summer but new signings such as Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, Dujon Sterling and Jose Cifuentes failed to impress.

In mitigation, injuries robbed him of Danilo, Todd Cantwell, Kieran Dowell, Nico Raskin, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Kemar Roofe for various lengths of time with Ryan Jack and Ridvan Yilmaz picking up injuries against the Dons.

Rangers chairman John Bennett said: “I’d like to thank Michael for his dedicated work since he rejoined the club as manager last November.

“It is clear that results have fallen well short of the board’s, Michael's and our supporters’ expectations.”

 

Beale was named Sunderland head coach on December 18, 2023.

The 43-year-old signed a contract until the summer of 2026 after he took over as the permanent successor to Tony Mowbray, who was sacked at the start of December following a poor run of results.

Beale took charge of Sunderland with the club seventh in the Championship and three points off the play-off places following a solid spell under interim boss Mike Dodds.

But Beale lasted two months in the role, losing his job just 12 games into his reign following successive Championship defeats to Huddersfield and Birmingham.

Beale walked into something of a storm on Wearside as fans disappointed by Mowbray’s departure and less than enamoured with his replacement vented their frustrations.

His suggestion that he was not liked by the supporters because he was a cockney did little to calm the waters, and results on the pitch did not help him either.

In all, he won only four of the games for which he was in the dugout and lost six, one of them a tame 3-0 home defeat by arch rivals Newcastle in the FA Cup third round.

 

Michael Beale personal life

Beale has a wife called Roxanne and three children called Henry, Mason and Alba.

Michael Beale net worth

His net worth is rumoured to be between £1m and £5m.