Top 5 longest serving football managers in the last 50 years

#1 Guy Roux: 36 years & 6 months at Auxerre

Guy Roux has been Auxerre’s finest servant with over 50 years of service a player and manager

Technically, Guy Roux spent more than half a century at French club, Auxerre. Roux spent his entire senior career at the club where he became a player-manager before becoming a full-time manager.

It was in 1952 that he became a player-coach and would go on to manage the club all the way into the 21st century. By the time he left, his record read 890 games in charge with 375 wins – a win percentage of a little over 42%.

While his single longest reign was 66 years, there was a brief hiatus in the 2000/01 season. In all, he was in charge for 44 long years and under his guidance, the academy produced world class players such as Eric Cantona and Laurent Blanc.

Auxerre isn’t exactly one of the top clubs in France. He had won the Ligue 1 title only once in 1995/96 but he did win the Coupe de France four times towards the end of his career. He only called time on his career aged 66 when he knew the club was in a safe position, saying: “All the lights are green, the team has had a good season and the finances are stable.”

His fourth French Cup title would be his last contribution to the club before retirement. Although he did manage Lens for four games in 2007, a winless run saw him resign and quit for good.