It’s not uncommon in this day and age to find brothers who are both footballers. In fact there are even brothers who play football for different countries. What is not so common is to find brothers who both decide to pursue a coaching career. Here are five football coaches who are brothers.
1. Gary & Phillip Neville
The two siblings were former professional footballers who played together for many years in the colours of English giants Manchester United.
Soon after their playing careers, both ventured into managerial football. Gary initially started out as a TV pundit. In 2012 he was named assistant manager for the England national team till 2016.
During this time, he was appointed manager of Spanish side Valencia in December of 2015, where he endured a torrid 4 months before being sacked in March the following year after a string of poor results.
His brother Phil enjoyed a relatively more successful coaching career. Phil’s first coaching gigs were assistant roles with the England under-20 national teams and Manchester United in the early 2010s.
In 2015 he was briefly in charge of Valencia in a caretaker role before the appointment of his brother Gary. Phil was later appointed the manager of the England female senior national team and guided them to 4th place finish at the 2019 FIFA Female World Cup.
On 18 January 2021, Phil Neville was became the head coach of Inter Miami, and currently their coach.
2. Frank & Ronald de Boer
The twin brothers featured for the Dutch national team and club side Ajax Amsterdam during their playing career. The siblings later went into coaching.
Frank’s first and most successful stint was with hometown club Ajax, with whom he guided to 4 Dutch league titles. He would later have brief stays at Inter Milan and Crystal Palace in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Frank later coached MLS side Atlanta United before handling the Netherlands national team.
His brother Ronald hasn’t had much coaching experience as he has only been in assistant roles with Qatar under-23s and Ajax youth teams. He currently works as the Ajax A1 assistant manager.
3. Fabio & Paolo Cannavaro
The Cannavaro brothers had contrasting fortunes in their football careers, with Fabio being the more successful one. They both ventured into coaching after their retirement from football.
Fabio has handled a lot of sides since 2013, which include Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, and many of the top Chinese football clubs such as, Guangzhou Evergrande, Tianjin Quanjian and the Chinese men’s national team.
His younger brother Paolo was an assistant manager at the Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande between 2018-2021.
4. Filippo & Simeone Inzaghi
The Inzaghi brothers enjoyed very fruitful football careers before deciding to go into coaching.
Filippo has managed many Italian club sides like AC Milan, Venezia, Bologna, Benevento, and Brescia since he started his managerial career in 2012.
However, his younger brother Simeone Inzaghi has so far achieved more managerial success guiding Lazio and Inter Milan to Italian Coppa Italia titles. Simeone Inzaghi was even named the Serie A coach of the month on December 2021.
5. Erwin & Ronald Koeman
The Koeman brothers are both former internationals of the Dutch national team. They are also well-known coaches who have managed various teams over the course of their careers, including club sides and national teams.
Erwin has managed many Dutch sides like Feyernord, Utrecht, Eindhoven, RKC Waalwijk, and Beitar Jerusalem. He has also handled the national teams of Hungary and Oman.
Erwin Koeman retired from coaching in December 2021, it was has revealed that Erwin Koeman will join Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands staff as an assistant coach after the 2022 World Cup.
Ronald Koeman is the slightly more successful and better-known manager of the two. He has managed various clubs across Europe in England, Spain, and Holland.
The Dutchman has managed Ajax, Vitesse, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, Southampton, Everton, and the Netherlands national team.
His last appointment was as the manager of FC Barcelona, and he is poised to return as the coach of the Dutch national team after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Louis van Gaal retires.
