Have we seen the last suit-wearing Premier League-winning manager on the touchline?

Paul Okey
20 June 2022

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp again fought it out for the Premier League title last year, with not a smart jacket or tie in sight. Is it the end for suited football managers and title celebrations?

Pep Guardiola struck another blow for the smart casual football manager when Manchester City lifted the Premier League title last season, and it is now five seasons since the champions had a suit-wearing boss on the sidelines.

That was Antonio Conte and Chelsea in 2017 and it might be a long wait for the next one, with Conte one of only two top-flight bosses whose matchday wear is a suit (the other being Brendan Rodgers).

Suits dominate the Premier League era

Prior to the 2017/18 season, the Premier League title had always been won by a team whose manager wore a suit on the sidelines.

Granted, the majority of those were Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but we also had the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti among the suit-wearing bosses.

Season	Champions	Manager	Touchline attire
1992/93	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
1993/94	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
1994/95	Blackburn	Sir Kenny Dalglish	Suit
1995/96	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
1996/97	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
1997/98	Arsenal	Arsene Wenger	Suit
1998/99	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
1999/00	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2000/01	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2001/02	Arsenal	Arsene Wenger	Suit
2002/03	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2003/04	Arsenal	Arsene Wenger	Suit
2004/05	Chelsea	Jose Mourinho	Suit
2005/06	Chelsea	Jose Mourinho	Suit
2006/07	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2007/08	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2008/09	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2009/10	Chelsea	Carlo Ancelotti	Suit
2010/11	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2011/12	Man City	Roberto Mancini	Suit
2012/13	Man Utd	Sir Alex Ferguson	Suit
2013/14	Man City	Manuel Pellegrini	Suit
2014/15	Chelsea	Jose Mourinho	Suit
2015/16	Leicester	Claudio Ranieri	Suit
2016/17	Chelsea	Antonio Conte	Suit
2017/18	Man City	Pep Guardiola	Smart casual
2018/19	Man City	Pep Guardiola	Smart casual
2019/20	Liverpool	Juregn Klopp	Tracksuit
2020/21	Man City	Pep Guardiola	Smart casual
2021/22	Man City	Pep Guardiola	Smart casual

Pep's Manchester City years

It was a blueprint Pep was keen to follow when he took over at the Etihad in 2016. The Spaniard wore a suit for the duration of a campaign which saw City finish third, 15 points behind champions Chelsea.

Guardiola addressed his team's defensive issues in the summer and it was a different Manchester City that emerged for the 2017/18 campaign, and a different Pep.

Gone was the suit, replaced at Brighton for chinos, white T-shirt and trainers. It was a blueprint that was to last the season, with a white round-necked T-shirt replacing the collared one worn at the Amex and a dark, round-necked sweater and jacket for chillier days. Dark chinos replaced the lighter ones as we entered autumn.

Title duly delivered, Pep got bolder in November 2018, introducing the Premier League to the 'jardigan', a woolly jacket cardigan hybrid that saw him through most of another championship-winning season.

Thankfully, it was gone for the next campaign (though a dark blue version did make a brief return in 2020).

2019/20 was then the season of the heavily pocketed trouser, first introduced as part of a dress-down-day at the office ensemble at Bournemouth.

Useful for carrying all manner of nick-nacks, they weren't so adept at picking up points, with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp becoming the first tracksuit-wearing manager to lift the Premier League title.

Smart casual again won the day in 2020/21 as Guardiola and City regained the title but rather like a partner who has got comfortable in their relationship and let their standards slip, so too has Pep, eschewing the chino, T-shirt, sweater uniform which has served him so well for the majority of his time at the Etihad for anything he can pick up with a staff discount at the club shop.

Man City logos now feature heavily on his clothing and it's a push to call last season's style smart casual. He'd struggle to get in a nightclub, let's put it that way, even if he is now wearing shoes.

Next season's Premier League

New boys Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest are all coming up with managers whose style is very much smart casual, though Scott Parker will surely have banished his much-maligned coat from two seasons ago to the back of his wardrobe.

Erik ten Hag is also of the smart casual persuasion, leaving Antonio Conte and Tottenham and Brendan Rodgers at Leicester to keep the flag flying for suit-wearing managers (and even Conte doesn't wear a suit for every game).

As for Pep, who has gone from wearing a suit through smart casual to club shop wear, the next stage is surely sweat pants, vest and sliders. Especially if that vest comes complete with a club logo.

Club	Manager	Touchline attire
AFC Bournemouth	Scott Parker	Smart casual
Arsenal	Mikel Arteta	Smart casual
Aston Villa	Steven Gerrard	Smart casual
Brentford	Thomas Frank	Smart casual
Brighton	Graham Potter	Smart casual
Chelsea	Thomas Tuchel	Tracksuit
Crystal Palace	Patrick Vieira	Smart casual
Everton	Frank Lampard	Smart casual
Fulham	Marco Silva	Smart casual
Leeds	Jesse Marsch	Smart casual
Leicester	Brendan Rodgers	Suit
Liverpool	Juregn Klopp	Tracksuit
Man City	Pep Guardiola	Smart casual
Man Utd	Erik ten Hag	Smart casual
Newcastle	Eddie Howe	Tracksuit
Nottm For	Steve Cooper	Smart casual
Southampton	Ralph Hasenhuttl	Tracksuit
Tottenham	Antonio Conte	Suit
West Ham	David Moyes	Tracksuit
Wolves	Bruno Lage	Tracksuit