Foreign coaches in the Championship: Why working in England's second tier is a target for top managers from abroad

10.11.2026, 14:58 skysports.com

The focus is often on the lack of opportunities for British coaches but look at it another way and it is remarkable that 16 of the clubs in the sixth-richest league in European football – two thirds of them – are currently being coached by men from the British Isles.

This is the famous Championship, offering raucous crowds, potential riches and a route to the Premier League. That is what has drawn the other eight - coaches from Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and two from Portugal - with more waiting.

Each of these men are first-time managers in English football and while not all of them will find success here, the odds are in favour of at least one of them being able to call themselves a Premier League manager once the Championship season is concluded.

Burnley – Fabio Celestini (Switzerland)Middlesbrough – Kim Hellberg (Sweden)Norwich – Philippe Clement (Belgium)QPR – Julien Stephan (France)Southampton – Tonda Eckert (Germany)Swansea – Vitor Matos (Portugal)Watford – Alessio Dionisi (Italy)Wolves – Cesar Peixoto (Portugal)

Top coaches are alive to the possibilities in England's second tier. It was a privilege to attend two games with Portuguese coach Vitor Campelos recently to gain a greater appreciation not just of the game here but its appeal to those working elsewhere.

Campelos has offers at home and abroad, the chance to continue his top-flight coaching career on the continent is there. But the lure of the British game took him on a fact-finding mission both north and south of the border. It proved an illuminating trip.

Watching games with genuine experts is always insightful. Campelos, who has coached three different teams in Portugal's top division and won the title in Slovenia earlier this year, was impressed by Wolves' shape at Bristol City but wanted to see more rotations.

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He enjoyed Scott Twine's stunning free-kick at Ashton Gate and shared tales of how he would empower his own players by sending them off in groups to devise set-piece routines for the weekend. "They are so much more engaged when it is their own idea."

At Pride Park, Campelos noted how Bolton were able to pull Derby around the pitch. "Look at the space every time for Ruben Rodrigues in the half spaces." His compatriot opened the scoring soon after. But the Championship is not always so predictable.

Derby produced an unlikely second-half comeback and won the game 3-1 with only 30 per cent of the possession. "Football is amazing," concluded Campelos. The crowd of 27,536 watching a team winless in 10 games was a reminder of English football's depth.

For context, Derby are currently 43rd in the pyramid but would be the fourth-best supported team in Portugal by a wide margin. Campelos points out the vocal away support at Pride Park too. Bolton took 3,000 fans to Pride Park for the evening kick-off.

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The pull of the atmosphere might seem overly romantic but it is real. Miron Muslic has less reason than most to eulogise the uniqueness of English football given that he is the coach of Schalke, the club with the biggest away following in world football last season.

But even he remembers his time with Plymouth Argyle fondly in part because of the rhythms of English football, the feeling that the crowd were truly a part of the contest. It is special. "Players always ask me about the Championship," Muslic tells Sky Sports.

"And I always tell everyone the same thing. You have to experience this. You guys have to go to England and sign for, hopefully a Premier League club, but if not Premier League then the Championship, because the football is just pure. And I love the atmosphere."

Muslic is an animated man at all times but he becomes particularly excited at the recollection of that precise noise when the ball hits the net in an English stadium. "Always after you score the goal," he says. "This first [roar]. It is only like this in England."

There is noise in Germany. It is often more spectacular with eye-catching choreography and a relentless chanting that continues regardless of the fortunes of the team. "It is organised here," says Muslic. It is neither better nor worse but it is noticeably different.

Fans are less likely to react spontaneously to the action. "That is the biggest difference. The guys at Plymouth, they celebrated a tackle. And one aerial duel and we smashed the ball over there and everybody was like, 'Yeah, ******* hell!' That is typically English."

Muslic was not quite able to keep Plymouth up after taking over in tough circumstances from Wayne Rooney. But, bolstered by an FA Cup win over Liverpool, he enhanced his reputation sufficiently to earn the move to Schalke and is now in the Bundesliga.

The Championship brings eyeballs and opportunity. Muslic had to move to make it to a major European league but others are able to use it to take a more direct route to the top. Sergej Jakirovic certainly proved that with the job he did at Hull City last season.

Hull were unfancied having only just stayed up the previous season. But Jakirovic was able to mastermind their promotion via the play-offs. He is acutely aware that he had little chance of getting one of those 20 jobs but now he is a Premier League manager.

"I do not know too many coaches who start like I do, in the academy, and then step by step, you come here. Mr Acun [Ilicali] gave me my opportunity and then with this promotion, you are now in the Premier League," the Bosnian coach tells Sky Sports.

"It is a big privilege and I am very proud of this, my journey. And this is the reason why I will give everything to be successful. It is not easy to get the chance, to get the job, especially from my country. But you have to use your moments also, your opportunity."

Campelos and many more like him and out there hoping to get their own opportunity soon and the success of Jakirovic and others shows that there are bright coaches with big ideas capable of making an impact even if the Brexit-regulations are a complication.

Despite only one third of Championship coaches coming from continental Europe, they account for five of the top eight. When it comes to progressive football, it can be easier to demonstrate that skill abroad than working in England's lower leagues.

Campelos, for example, can point to his Celje side in Slovenia ranking 26th out of over 1000 clubs across 68 leagues in a recent CIES Football Observatory report calculating the 'ability to dictate games' domestically. Desirable qualities for ambitious owners.

The Portuguese is insightful on matters of coaching, tactics and the psychology behind team cohesion. He has been of interest to two Championship clubs and, for now, is ready to wait for his chance.

For coaches, as with players, the dream is the Premier League. Many are realising that the Championship is the way to reach that goal.

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