Not many
football managers’ son who follow their footsteps in the dugout and gained
success at the top flight.
The story of
father and son in football has been dominated in the playing career or the
father in the dugout and the son on the pitch. Yet, when it comes to the
managerial career, such is rather hard to find, especially regarding the
success in the top tier competition.
The legendary
manager, Brian Clough does have a son, Nigel, who follows his footsteps bytaking managerial career. Unfortunately, Nigel Clough’s spells on the sideline
are barely close to his father’s glorious one. He mainly spent his career in
the lower level sides. The current Mansfield Town, a third tier team in English
football, previously took charge of Burton Albion twice, Derby County and
Sheffield United while competing in the Championship, or the second tier.
The same
thing goes to Sir Alex Ferguson’s son, Darren. He mostly spends his managerial
career at the second and third tier leagues. The current Peterborough United
boss previously had stints in Preston North End and Doncaster Rovers.
However,
these names below have been able to do well at the top level, some even almost
match their father’s success and deliver silverware too. Here are those notable
father and son football managers.
Dusan Uhrin Sr and Jr (Czechia)
Dusan Uhrin
is probably a forgotten name but he deserves a better recognition as he was the
gaffer who led Czech Republic to EURO 1996 final against all the odds. Uhrin’s
side snatched a remarkable yet surprising results in their campaign by thumping
the 1994 FIFA World Cup runners up, Italy 2-1, knocked out Portugal 1-0 and
eliminated France on penalties before reaching the summit. Unfortunately, Pavel
Nedved and Co were unable to hold on to their 1-0 lead and only lost to Germany
through a golden goal.
Uhrin Sr. had
a brief stint with the Kuwait national team too from 1999-2001 on the
international stage. At the club level, the Bratislava-born manager has been at
the helm of several clubs abroad, from Sweden’s AIK, Cyprus’s AEL Limassol and
APOEL Nicosia, Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, Israel’s Maccabi Haifa, and Algeria’s
CR Belouizdad to Georgia’s Dinamo Tbilisi. The gaffer who began his coaching
career in Sparta Prague lifted trophies in almost all of those countries,
except in Sweden and Israel.
Meanwhile,
his son, Dusan Uhrin Jr., also takes the managerial path with stints in
Romania, Georgia, Cyprus, and Belarus, as well as his own home soil. Like his
father, who won titles abroad and domestic titles at home, he has also
delivered trophies, especially in Romania with CFR Cluj and Georgia with Dinamo
Tbilisi. Uhrin Junior only lacks experience on the international stage. He is
currently in charge of the Slovakian side, Zlate Moravce.
Dusan Uhrin Jr’s achievement
|
Notable Clubs |
Titles |
|
Mlada Boleslav |
Czech Top tier league runner up in 2006 |
|
CFR Cluj |
Romanian Cup, Romanian Super Cup 2009 |
|
Politehnica Timisoara |
Romanian Top tier league runner up in 2011 |
|
Dinamo Tbilisi |
Georgian top tier league, Georgian Cup 2013 |
|
Viktoria Plzen |
Czech top tier league runner up 2014, Czech
Cup runner up 2014 |
|
Dinamo Minsk |
Belarusian top tier league runner up 2014,
2015 |
|
Dinamo Bucharest |
- |
|
Slavia Prague |
- |
This is
probably the solid example of the father whose name is not as well-known as the
son's. Guy Stephan is currently serving as the assistant of Didier Deschamps in
Les Blues, the position he has been in charge of since 2012. Previously, he was
at the helm of Caen, Lyon, and Bordeaux, plus the Senegal national team,
without any notable success. His best achievement was only leading El Hadji
Diouf and Co. to the quarterfinal in AFCON 2024 and guiding Lyon to an
11th place finish in the 1995/96 campaign.
However, his
son, Julien, has better spells. The former Rennes boss won the French Cup in
2019 after beating Neymar’s PSG on penalties. He even led them to end their
league campaign in third place in the following season and made their debut in
the UEFA Champions League 2021. The former defensive midfielder also managed
to help Strasbourg sit sixth in the 2021/22 season, their best finish since
1980. Sadly, he was unable to replicate his glorious campaign in the second
stint with Rennes last season.
Julien Stephan’s achievement
|
Notable Clubs |
Titles |
|
Rennes |
French Cup 2019, Ligue 1 third place 2020 UCL debut in 2021 |
|
Strasbourg |
Ligue 1 sixth place in 2022 |
Mircea Lucescu and Ravzan Lucescu (Romania)
Mircea
Lucescu is one of the most decorated managers in Europe. He has won a number of
notable titles with the underrated sides in the continent, such as Galatasaray
and Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as the powerhouses in his home soil, such as
Dinamo Bucharest and Rapid Bucharest, plus other overseas teams, Zenit St.
Petersburg, Dinamo Kiev, and Besiktas. The current Romania national team boss
enjoyed his trophy-laden years with Ukraine’s Shakhtar, which he guided to
clinch the UEFA Cup in 2009. It is the first continental title for a Ukrainian
club in history. The former Inter Milan and Brescia boss also guided Romania to
qualify for their first-ever EURO in 1984 and narrowly missed clinching one
spot in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
His son,
Ravzan, is undoubtedly one of Romania's best managers today. He might yet reach
the level his father is at, but he is not exactly far behind. The current PAOK
Salonika boss has won a number of titles abroad too with his current side,
including progressing to the quarterfinals in the UEFA Conference League twice and
previously with Rapid Bucharest at the same stage in the UEFA Cup 2006.
The former
goalkeeper also snatched a prestigious title in Asia, the AFC Champions League,
with Al Hilal in 2019, plus a domestic double in 2020. Unfortunately, his spell
with the Romanian national team was not as impressive as his stints with his
club. Ravzan was in charge of the team from 2009 to 2011 but failed to lead
them to qualify for EURO 2012.
Ravzan Lucescu’s achievement
|
Notable Clubs |
Titles |
|
Rapid Bucharest |
Romanian Cup 2006 and 2007, UEFA Cup quarterfinals
2006 |
|
Xanthi |
Greek Cup runner up 2015 |
|
PAOK Salonika |
Greek top tier league 2019, 2024; Greek Cup
2018, 2019; Conference League quarterfinal 2022 and 2024. UCL playoff 2019 |
|
Al Hilal |
AFC Champions League 2019, Saudi Pro League
and Saudi Cup 2020 |
Anghei Iordanescu and Edward Iordanescu
(Romania)
Last but not
least, there is a former Romania boss who left the post after EURO 2024, Edward
Iordanescu. He is the son of Romania’s legendary gaffer, Anghei. His father’s success
might still be much better than his own since he managed to guide Steaua
Bucharest to win the UEFA Super Cup in 1986, was a finalist in the European Cup
in 1989, and led Georghe Hagi and Co. to three consecutive major tournaments:
the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and EURO 1996. Anghei was also the one who
brought his country to qualify in EURO 2008 and 2016.
Edward might
still be in the process of making his mark in his career, but he has achieved
something that his father could not do in the EURO. The former FCSB (the newname of Steaua Bucharest) boss was able to lead Romania to qualify to the knockout stage in EURO 2024. Dennis Man and Co. toppled the favourites, Belgium
and Ukraine, in the group stage before losing to the Netherlands in the round
of 16.
Edward Iordanescu’s achievement
|
Notable Clubs |
Titles |
|
CFR Cluj |
Romanian top tier league 2021, Romanian
Super Cup 2018 and 2020 |
|
Romanian national team |
Round of 16 in EURO 2024 |
|
FCSB |
- |
|
CSKA Sofia |
- |
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