Last update 24 September, 2024 by Alberto Llopis
Which footballers were coaches-players at the same time? Ryan Giggs made the news at the end of the season 2013/14. The eternal United captain acted as player-coach at the Manchester club starring in the curious fact of taking himself out on the pitch in the last Premier match where he said goodbye to the fans of Old Trafford.
A widely used figure (more before than now) in English football and yet it has not spread much to other countries. In Hanged For Football, We take advantage of some of the most notorious cases of players who were coaches at the same time.. They executed what they ordered. But did they charge for one or two?
Footballers who were player-coaches
1- Luis Aragones: El Sabio de Hortaleza starred in the first sounded case of player-coach in Spain in his last year as a player. He did it just after finishing the final of the European Cup 1974 and he was only half a year holding that double position before his final retirement.
2- Ruud Güllit and Gianluca Vialli: the eternal Dutch midfielder led Chelsea on the benches between 1996 y 1998, period where he combined that direction also on the pitch. Until in 18 encounters knew how to combine that double task that he also repeated Gianluca Vialli for two years at club blue.
3- Romario: seeing Romario as a coach has its joke. But even more is seeing him multiply in his tasks. However, this happened in 2007 with Vasco de Gama as a witness. Romario had already reached the 1000 goals as a professional and it was time to show his skills to the youngest. With cases 60 years he played president-player.
4- George Weah: the Liberian made the most difficult yet. He led his national team between the year 2000 y 2002. His knowledge of the game from the bench had a recipient first: your speed up. Later he was president of Liberia. one of the best African players in history and the only one on the entire continent to win the Ballon d'Or.
5- Kenny Dalglish: the most famous case and also the one that gave the best result. For five years, Liverpool's Scottish forward knew how to double his efforts and perform effectively as a forward and as a coach. Dalglish, He won the Premier with Liverpool as a player-coach.
| Player-Coach | Equipment(s) | Season(s) |
|---|---|---|
 Ercole Carzino |
Sampierdarenese | 1931 – 1933 |
 Hennes Weisweiler |
1. FC Cologne | 1949 – 1952 |
 Adolfo Pedernera |
Millonaries FC | 1950 – 1954 |
| Erwin Helmchen |
VfB Lübeck | 1950 |
 Albert Batteux |
Reims stadium | 1950 |
| Helmut Schön |
Hertha BSC Berlin | 1950 – 1951 |
  Ken Armstrong |
New Zealand | 1958 – 1962 |
| Helmut Benthaus |
FC Basel | 1965 – 1971 |
 Kunishige Kamamoto |
Yanmar Diesel (Osaka Cherry Tree) | 1978 – 1984 |
| Kenny Dalglish |
Liverpool FC | 1986 – 1991 |
| Uwe Reinders |
Eintracht Braunschweig | 1987 – 1989 |
| Trevor Francis |
Queens Park Rangers FC Sheffield Wednesday FC |
1988 – 1989 1991 – 1995 |
| Glenn Hoddle |
Swindon Town Chelsea FC |
1991 – 1993 1993 – 1995 |
| Alan Curbishley |
Charlton Athletic FC | 1991 – 1996 |
 Alexander Zavarov |
CO Saint-Dizier | 1995 – 1998 |
 Ruud Gullit |
Chelsea FC | 1996 – 1998 |
 Davie Irons |
Annan Athletic FC | 1997 – 2002 |
| Gianluca Vialli |
Chelsea FC | 1998 – 2000 |
| Wynton Rufer |
Football Kingz | 1999 – 2002 |
| Karl-Heinz Riedle |
Fulham FC | 2000 |
 George Weah |
Liberia | 2000 – 2002 |
| Paul Merson |
Walsall FC | 2004 – 2006 |
| Marco Kurz |
SC Pfullendorf | 2005 |
 Igor Dobrovolskiy |
Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol | 2005 – 2006 |
| Dorinel Munteanu |
CFR Cluj | 2005 – 2006 |
| Paul Ince |
Macclesfield Town FC | 2006 – 2007 |
 Romário |
Vasco da Gama | 2007 |
 Russell Latapy |
Falkirk FC | 2007 – 2009 |
 Sergio Ibarra |
Scienceno Sport Huancayo |
2010 2013 – |
| Neil Emblen |
Waitakere United | 2010 – 2012 |
 Tony Jamieson |
Tupa Maraerenga FC | 2011 – 2012 |
 Brian Shelley |
Ballarat Red Devils Waitakere United |
2011 – 2012 2013 |
| Ryan Giggs | Manchester United FC | 2014 |