
In
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, the manager is the person who has overall responsibility for the running of a
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
. They have wide-ranging responsibilities, including selecting the team, choosing the tactics, recruiting and
transferring players, negotiating player contracts, and speaking to the media. In professional football, a manager is usually appointed by and answerable to the club's board of directors, but at an amateur level the manager may have total responsibility for the running of a club.
Responsibilities
The manager's responsibilities in a professional football club usually include (but are not limited to) the following:
* Selecting the team of players for matches, and their
formation.
* Planning the strategy, and instructing the players on the
pitch.
* Motivating players before and during a match.
* Delegating duties to the first team coach and the
coaching and medical staff.
* Scouting for young but talented players for eventual
training
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
in the
youth academy or the
reserves, and encouraging their development and improvement.
* Buying and selling players in the
transfer market, including
loans
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the debt ( ...
.
* Facing the media in pre-match and post-match interviews.
Some of the above responsibilities may be shared with a
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...
or
sporting director
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...
, and are at times delegated to an assistant manager or club coach.
Additionally, depending on the club, some minor responsibilities include:
* Marketing the club, most especially for ticket admission, sponsorship and merchandising.
* Growing turnover and keeping the club profitable.
These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs.
See also
*
List of football managers with most games
This is a list of Manager (association football), football managers that have managed the most games, including those with 1,000 or more games. The list includes managers' total matches, comprising club domestic league and cup, continental and glo ...
*
List of longest managerial reigns in association football
The longest managerial reign in association football belongs to Englishman Jimmy Davies (football manager), Jimmy Davies who was manager of Waterloo Dock A.F.C., Waterloo Dock for 50 years. Second to this, Fred Everiss was manager of English F ...
*
Caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
*
Player-manager
A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
*
League Managers Association
The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually.
History
The union was founded in 1919 as ...
for managers in England
*
Football Manager
''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
, a simulation video game for playing as a manager.
References
{{Authority control
Association football terminology
Sports coaches
Association football occupations