Player-managers are quite rare in the modern game, and appointments seldom happened back in the day. But some players were lucky and can boast of playing and managing at the same time.
Ryan Giggs played an interim player-manager role in 2013 for Manchester United after the dismissal of David Moyes.
French striker Nicolas Anelka is one of the most recent player-managers, having taken up the top job at Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League last year. Now 37 years old, Anelka featured for several top clubs in his day, with the likes of Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain all taking him in at some point.
Former England keeper David James also took up such a role in the Indian Super League with Kerala Blasters, while World Cup winner Marco Materazzi did the same with Chennaiyin FC.
We take a look at five other players who functioned in the dual role during their career.
#1 Kenny Dalglish – Liverpool
‘King’ Kenny was already a huge hit at Liverpool, having represented the club eight years prior to him taking over from Joe Fagan in 1985.
Before taking up the player-manager role, the legendary Dalglish won five First Division (now Premier League) titles, four League Cups, three European Cups (now UEFA Champions League) and a UEFA Supercup.
In his first season as player-manager, Dalglish went on to win Liverpool their first-ever double, claiming yet another League title, as well as the FA Cup. He hung his playing boots two seasons after taking over, but stayed on as manager to win a further two league titles and an FA Cup.
Dalglish resigned in 1991, much to everyone’s surprise. However, he returned for another stint in 2011 and won the League Cup. The Reds could only manage an eighth-place finish, though, and he was sacked the following year.
#2 Romario – Vasco da Gama
Named in FIFA’s list of 100 greatest players still living in 2004, Brazilian star Romario is a legend of the game and is billed as one of the greatest strikers of all time.
Now a politician in the South American country, Romario starred for Brazil in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, winning the Golden Ball. He was also named the FIFA World Player of the Year that very year.
He joined Vasco da Gama in 2000, after illustrious spells at PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona, and at 34 years, had one of his best seasons as a footballer. At 39 years of age in 2005, he was still scoring and became the Brazilian League’s top scorer for the third time with 22 goals scored.
In 2007, he was appointed as a temporary manager at Vasco, but would surprisingly feature as a player in his first game in charge. The stint would only last a few months, as he would step down from managing but resumed his player role.
He announced his retirement from both coaching and playing in 2008, but made a shock return in 2009, bizarrely claiming that he had never retired.
Sounds like something a politician would do, right?
#3 Glenn Hoddle – Swindon Town and Chelsea
The former England midfielder Glenn Hoddle can boast about being player-manager in back-to-back stints at two different clubs. The Englishman was given the job at Swindon Town in 1991, after brilliant spells as a player at Tottenham Hotspur and Monaco, where he won his fair share of silverware.
He helped secure Premier League promotion in the space of two seasons for Swindon, scoring in the play-off final against Leicester City in 1993.
Chelsea was his next destination. He took over at the London club as player-manager and would retire from playing two years later while holding the managerial post. The former Spurs man led the Blues to the FA Cup final in his first season, but they would lose 4-0 to Manchester United.
Hoddle relinquished his position as Chelsea manager in 1996, accepting an offer to manage England. He was dismissed three years later for making some controversial comments, yet left with a 60 percent win rate.
#4 Ruud Gullit – Chelsea
The 1987 Balon d’Or winner succeeded Glenn Hoddle as Chelsea manager in 1996, while he was still a player at the club.
A superstar in his own right at the time, Ruud Gullit had joined the Blues a year prior, on a free transfer, under Hoddle. Despite the initial difficulties faced in adapting to the system, the Dutch maestro made swift adjustments to finish runner-up to Eric Cantona for the Player of the Year Award, and was named Chelsea’s Player of the Year.
When Hoddle left to take up the England job, Gullit was the natural fit for the managerial role. He had great influence in the team and commanded respect. His first season as player-manager would see the Blues lift the FA Cup, their first major trophy in 26 years, as well as a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
He left a year later, however, because of a dispute with the club.
#5 Gianluca Vialli – Chelsea
Gianluca Vialli was next in line after Gullit’s departure. Brought to the club as a player by the Dutchman, he was part of the squad that won the FA Cup during his reign.
However, he was constantly at loggerheads with Gullit and saw his playing time reduced considerably as a result.
Vialli was the one who would have the last laugh, as he took over mid-season in 1998, also becoming the Premier League’s first Italian manager. The Blues were already in the semi-finals of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winner’s Cup when he became player-manager.
The club went on to win both competitions with Vialli at the helm. He would also become the youngest-ever manager to win a European Cup, and the record stood until 2011 when Andre Villas-Boas won the Europa League with Porto at the age of 33 years and 213 days.
Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League that year and would finish one spot higher in the next season, just four points behind champions Manchester United.
They also defeated Real Madrid to win the European Super Cup, and two years later, the Italian guided the Blues to another FA Cup, this time as manager.
