In the 117-year history of the Yellow-Navy Blues football team, there have been 40 foreign and 37 Turkish head coaches.
Despite breaking the club’s points record last season under İsmail Kartal, the team finished second in the league. Following this, Jose Mourinho, who most recently managed Italy’s Roma team, has taken over the team.
Mourinho, the 41st Foreign Manager
Jose Mourinho has been recorded as Fenerbahçe’s 41st foreign manager.
Before Mourinho, a total of 40 foreign managers from 13 different countries had managed the team. These included 7 Hungarians, 6 Yugoslavs, 5 Germans, 4 each from the Netherlands, England, and Brazil, 2 each from Croatia, Romania, and Portugal, and 1 each from Scotland, Italy, Slovakia, and Spain.
Here is a list of foreign managers in Fenerbahçe’s 117-year history before Mourinho:
- Josef Swenk (Hungary)
- James Elliot (England)
- Nemettz (Hungary)
- John Prayr (England)
- Ignace Molnar (Hungary)
- Peter Molley (England)
- James McCormick (Scotland)
- Laszlo Szekely (Hungary)
- Zarko Mihailovic (Yugoslavia)
- Imre Markoş (Hungary)
- Miroslav Kokotovic (Yugoslavia)
- Oscar Hold (England)
- Abdullah Gegic (Yugoslavia)
- Traian Ionescu (Romania)
- Constantin Teasca (Romania)
- Waldeira Parreira Didi (Brazil)
- Tomislav Kaleperovic (Yugoslavia)
- Friedrich Rausch (Germany)
- Branko Stankovic (Yugoslavia)
- Todor Veselinovic (Yugoslavia)
- Karlman Mezsöly (Hungary)
- Pal Csernai (Hungary)
- Guus Hiddink (Netherlands)
- Josef Venglos (Slovakia)
- Holger Osieck (Germany)
- Tomislav Ivic (Croatia)
- Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil)
- Sebastiao Lazaroni (Brazil)
- Otto Baric (Croatia)
- Joachim Löw (Germany)
- Zdenek Zeman (Italy)
- Werner Lorant (Germany)
- Christoph Daum (Germany)
- Zico (Brazil)
- Luis Aragones (Spain)
- Vitor Pereira (Portugal)
- Dick Advocaat (Netherlands)
- Phillip Cocu (Netherlands)
- Erwin Koeman (Netherlands)
- Jorge Jesus (Portugal)
Fifth Foreign Coach Under Ali Koç
Jose Mourinho is the fifth foreign coach during Ali Koç’s presidency at Fenerbahçe. Prior to Mourinho, Ali Koç appointed Phillip Cocu (Netherlands), Erwin Koeman (Netherlands), Vitor Pereira (Portugal), and Jorge Jesus (Portugal).
Mourinho is also noted as the third Portuguese coach in the club’s history. Previously, Vitor Pereira and Jorge Jesus were the Portuguese coaches who managed the team.
Local Coaches
Fenerbahçe has had 37 local coaches in its history, including:
- Dalaklı Hüseyin
- Galip Kulaksızoğlu
- Fuat Hüsnü Kayacan
- Mustafa Elkatip
- Sami Coşar
- Zeki Rıza Sporel
- Lebib Elmas
- Reşat Erte
- Hikmet Mocuk
- Necmettin Çakar
- Fikret Arıcan
- Cihat Arman
- Reşat Nayır
- Necdet Erdem
- Selahattin Torkal
- Basri Dirimli
- Sabri Kiraz
- Necdet Niş
- Nedim Günar
- Şükrü Ersoy
- Enver Katip
- Ziya Şengül
- Yılmaz Yücetürk
- Ömer Kaner
- Tınaz Tırpan
- Erol Togay
- Rıdvan Dilmen
- Turhan Sofuoğlu
- Mustafa Denizli
- Oğuz Çetin
- Tamer Güney
- Aykut Kocaman
- Ersun Yanal
- İsmail Kartal
- Tahir Karapınar
- Erol Bulut
- Emre Belözoğlu
Additionally, Zeki Murat Göle, one of Fenerbahçe’s assistant coaches, served as an interim head coach for a total of five matches over two different seasons.
Before Ali Koç’s presidency, Vitor Pereira, Ersun Yanal, and İsmail Kartal had already managed the team and were reappointed during Koç’s tenure.
Longest and Shortest Serving Managers
Ignace Molnar holds the record for the longest-serving manager at Fenerbahçe, managing the team across six terms (1947-1948, 1957-1960, and 1967-1969) and achieving two championships.
The shortest-serving managers include Ömer Kaner and Erol Togay, who each managed three matches. Other short tenures include Rıdvan Dilmen with five matches, Tamer Güney and Zdenek Zeman with ten matches each, Tınaz Tırpan and Enver Katip with two months each, and James McCormick with a three-month tenure.
