Is this the cause of the lack of English managers in the Premier League?

The English Premier League is arguably the most competitive league in world football. As a result, there are many, many players and managers that have come to the league who are from foreign countries. With this, there is just 4 English managers in a league that consists of 20 teams. The dumbfounding question is why? While some believe that English coaches just aren’t good enough, others say that financing may be the major hindrance.

In England, those who aim to become a professional manager or academy manager must obtain the UEFA A coaching qualification. This usually takes up to two years alone to achieve, and costs a staggering £2965 (as reported by The Guardian, 2016) to complete. Before approaching this qualification, you must also take the other three badges, which amounts to another £1192. These combined mean that in order to be a manager in the premier league, one must have invested over £4000 and 4 years of time and even then they aren’t guaranteed a job by this point. In comparison to this, the German FA (DFB) charge just €800 to take the same UEFA A course. With numbers like that it is no surprise that in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top tier of football, there are 13 of the 18 teams managed by a German.

For current players who are looking to transition into management upon retiring, you would think that money is no issue, and these costs can be easily handled by themselves. Wrong. Many of those looking to take their badges rely on their respective clubs to subsidise the costs of the courses. It seems rather ironic that an average person looking to make it in the professional coaching world must plough money they may not even have into their dream, yet players earning tens of thousands a week seek the help of clubs to pay for, what would be for them, the minute figure of £4000.

In my opinion, it should come as no surprise to anyone that there are very few English coaches in the top tiers of world football when the nation’s FA charge these prices in comparison to other countries. It would certainly be interesting to see just how many people would pursue this career if the prices were lower, as many of those who would possibly complete the courses may not have the resources to invest such funds into a non-guaranteed field of work at this present moment.