The Sons who Followed the Fathers’ Managerial Footsteps and Succeeded at the Top Flight

 

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	-

 Guy Stephan and Julien Stephan (France)

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	-