Five greatest managers who never played professional football

1. Guy Roux

Guy Roux

Arguably the greatest manager to have never played football is the one who just resigned in 2005 after 44 amazing years at Auxerre, in which he transformed an amateur team into one that is now known nationally and internationally. A 23-year-old Guy Roux was given the job as coach of Auxerre, although he had no experience and had only played for the club, which was still an amateur back then for nearly a decade. His experience amounted to a month of watching Crystal Palace as an “observer” and he only got the job as he promised to “balance the books and never to waste a penny”.

As a manager, he helped Auxerre reach the Coupe de France final in 1979 and in the same year won Ligue 2, which meant that they would be in Ligue 1, the following year. For 34 successive years they stayed in Ligue 1 and in the process won the title once in 95/96. After winning the Coupe de France the year before that, Auxerre were slowly developing into a major force. To add to all this, players like Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Djibril Cisse and Philippe Mexes, all started their careers at this very club.

When Roux called it quits in June 2005, he called time on an illustrious career that saw him the league title once, the Coupe de France four times and also win the Intertoto Cup, whilst also reaching the semifinal of the UEFA Cup in 1993. All of which, cemented his status as a living legend and the greatest manager to have never played professional football.