Who are the oldest managers to get jobs in the Premier League?
- Scott Allen
- 27 June 2023
What company does Roy Hodgson keep in the list of oldest ever managerial appointments in the Premier League?
Roy Hodgson will be staying on for another season at Crystal Palace after saving them from relegation at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The 75-year-old helped steer Palace away from the relegation zone, taking 18 points from his 10 games in charge to finish 11th in the Premier League.
Hodgson is the oldest manager in the Premier League, but turning to grizzled golden-oldies is not unusual.
Planet Sport takes a look at the other men who were tempted to the Premier League when they could have been drawing their pension instead.
Sir Bobby Robson - Newcastle - 66
The former England boss arrived at Newcastle via spells at PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona in September 1999.
Perhaps
Newcastle, his boyhood club, were the only ones who could have tempted him back into club management at that stage of his career.
He stayed five years, guiding the Toon into the Champions League twice and to the UEFA Cup semi-finals.
Sadly, Sir Bobby died in 2009 aged 76 after a long battle with cancer.
Dick Advocaat - Sunderland - 67
Took over at
Sunderland in March 2015, a day after the sacking of Gus Poyet with the Black Cats one point above the relegation zone.
The former Rangers boss was a surprise choice having never managed in the Premier League before, but he guided Sunderland to survival.
Advocaat left after keeping them up but had a change of heart and signed a one-year contract after Sunderland fans took the novel approach of starting a fund to send his wife flowers.
However, after a tough start to the 2015/16 campaign, Advocaat resigned in October before going on to have a third spell in charge of the Dutch national team.
He later took charge Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht, Feynoord, Iraq and now at the age of 75, ADO Den Haag.
Sam Allardcye - Leeds - 68
Arrived at relegation-threatened Leeds in crowing that he was on a level with Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, Allardyce was reportedly on £250,000 a game to keep the West Yorkshire club in the Premier League.
The 68-year-old became Leeds' third permanent manager of the season after Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia.
He took over with the club languishing in 17th, and only goal difference keeps them out of the relegation zone and had just four games left to save the club from a dropping into the Championship.
He failed to achieve his goal and Leeds' three-year stay in the top flight was ended on the final day of the season after a 4-1 home defeat to Tottenham.
Over in Manchester Guardiola was celebrating his Treble as Allardyce left Leeds to go home at look at very sparse trophy cabinet.
Guus Hiddink - Chelsea - 69
The former Holland boss was named interim
Chelsea manager in 2015 following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and guided them on a 12-game unbeaten run, finishing 10th.
Hiddink had also managed the Blues for the final three months of the 2008/09 campaign.
His nomadic coaching career saw Hiddink take in stints with the China Under-21 team, Curacao and the assistant manager with Australia before retiring.
Claudio Ranieri - Watford - 69
Ranieri made a surprise return to the Premier League when Watford turned to the man who guided Leicester to their unforgettable title success in 2016 after sacking Xisco Munoz.
He had coached Nantes, Fulham, Roma and Sampdoria between those two jobs, so clearly he is not the kind of man who sees his age as a barrier to keeping busy.
Just 14 days shy of turning 70, though, the Italian was sacked by Watford having lost 11 of his 14 games at the helm to be replaced by Hodgson - a man four years his senior.
At 71 he's still going strong, winning promotion to Serie A with Cagliari after beating Bari in the play-offs in the 2022/23 season
Roy Hodgson - Crystal Palace - 70
After being sacked as manager of England after a disastrous Euro 2016, Hodgson spent over a year out of the game before landing the job as boss of his boyhood club Crystal Palace.
He inherited a team without a point or a goal from their opening four matches, but few were surprised when he guided them to the comfort of mid-table.
He would stay at Selhurst Park for four years, leaving in 2021 a hero after establishing the Eagles in the top flight.
Roy Hodgson - Watford - 74
When asked by reporters if he was retiring when he left Crystal Palace at the end of the 2020/21 season, Hodgson replied: "One never knows.
"I really am stepping down from the club and stepping away from football for a while. But who knows what the future will bring. It is a never say never moment."
It's fair to say that no one, probably even himself, expected to see him back in a dugout, though.
However, with
Watford in desperate need for a safe pair of hands, Hodgson returned to the Premier League in January 2022.
It wasn't the greatest move for the experienced manager as he left five months later after they were relegated to the Championship.
Roy Hodgson - Crystal Palace (again) - 75
Mocked by many pundits, Hodgson immediately halted the worrying slide Crystal Palace were making towards the Premier League relegation zone under Patrick Vieira and kept them well clear of the danger zone.
A true hero at Selhurst Park, he probably deserves a statue.
