Chelsea Football Club have had 34 permanent managers/head coaches (four of whom also served as player-manager), seven interim managers and seven caretakers. The first manager of the club was John Robertson, who was appointed player-manager in 1905. Ron Suart and Calum McFarlane have served as both caretaker and interim manager. José Mourinho has served two different spells as permanent manager, while Guus Hiddink has been interim manager twice. Roberto Di Matteo was initially appointed as interim manager, but was later given the job on a permanent basis, while Frank Lampard was a permanent manager, and later returned for a short spell as interim manager.
Chelsea's first ever manager was Scottish wing-half John Tait Robertson, who continued to play for the club until he resigned a year later. David Calderhead is Chelsea's longest-serving manager, holding the position from 1907 to 1933, spanning 966 matches. Chelsea's shortest reigning permanent manager is Liam Rosenior, who was in charge for 23 games. Statistically, Chelsea's least successful manager is Frank Lampard during his second stint.
The first manager under whom Chelsea won a major trophy was Ted Drake, who guided the club to the league championship in the 1954–55 season, while Dave Sexton managed the club to their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph in 1971, and Gianluca Vialli guided Chelsea to win the 1998 UEFA Super Cup. Mourinho has won the most domestic titles, and total titles with the club (in fact, all titles won with Mourinho were domestic titles – eight in total); Vialli won the second most titles with five, whereas Carlo Ancelotti led Chelsea to their first league and FA Cup Double in 2010.
Di Matteo led Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title in 2012. A year later, Rafael Benítez led the club to the UEFA Europa League, and so Chelsea became the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs, and the first British club, to have won all three of UEFA's major club competitions. In February 2022, Thomas Tuchel led Chelsea to its first FIFA Club World Cup. He is also the coach to have won the most international titles with the club; all three of his titles were international.
In July 2025, Enzo Maresca guided Chelsea to victory in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the first edition of the expanded competition, with a 3–0 win over the 2025 Champions League winners, Paris Saint-Germain, in the final.
List of managers Statistics correct as of 18 September 2026.
Key Includes competitive matches only. This table of all managers includes performance records and honours. M = matches managed; W = matches won; D = matches drawn; L = matches lost; GF = goals for; GA = goals against; GD = goal difference; Win% = percentage of total matches won.
PictureManagerNationalityFromToDaysMWDLGFGAGDWin%HonoursNotesRef. 1 August 190527 November 1906– 27 November 19061 August 1907– 1 August 19078 May 1933– 8 May 193319 April 1939– 19 April 193931 May 1952– 1 June 195230 September 19611955 FA Charity Shield 1 October 19616 October 19671965 Football League Cup 6 October 196723 October 1967– 23 October 19673 October 19741971 European Cup Winners' Cup (2) 3 October 197416 April 1975– 16 April 19751 July 1977– 7 July 197713 December 1978– 14 December 197811 September 1979– 13 September 197923 April 1981– 23 April 198128 May 1981– 28 May 198111 June 19851983–84 Second Division 11 June 19856 March 19881986 Full Members' Cup 6 March 198812 May 19911988–89 Second Division 1990 Full Members' Cup 11 June 199115 February 1993– 15 February 199311 May 1993– 4 June 199310 May 1996– 10 May 199612 February 19981997 FA Cup 12 February 199812 September 20001998 Football League Cup 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1998 UEFA Super Cup 2000 FA Cup 2000 FA Charity Shield 13 September 200017 September 2000– 18 September 200031 May 2004– 2 June 200420 September 20072005 Football League Cup 2004–05 Premier League 2005 FA Community Shield 2005–06 Premier League 2007 Football League Cup 2007 FA Cup 20 September 200724 May 2008– 1 July 20089 February 2009– 9 February 200916 February 2009– 16 February 200931 May 20092009 FA Cup 1 July 200922 May 20112009 FA Community Shield 2009–10 Premier League 2010 FA Cup 22 June 20114 March 2012– 4 March 201221 November 20122012 FA Cup 2012 UEFA Champions League 21 November 201229 May 20132013 UEFA Europa League (2) 3 June 201317 December 20152015 Football League Cup 2014–15 Premier League 18 December 201520 December 2015– (2) 20 December 20153 July 2016– 3 July 201613 July 20182016–17 Premier League 2018 FA Cup 14 July 201816 June 20192019 UEFA Europa League 4 July 201925 January 2021– 26 January 20217 September 20222021 UEFA Champions League 2021 UEFA Super Cup 2021 FIFA Club World Cup 8 September 20222 April 2023– 2 April 20236 April 2023– (2)6 April 202330 June 2023– 1 July 202321 May 2024– 1 July 20241 January 20262025 UEFA Conference League 2025 FIFA Club World Cup 1 January 20268 January 2026– 8 January 202622 April 2026– (2)22 April 20261 June 2026– 1 July 2026Present–Total1 August 1905Present38 trophies––
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