- 46 league clubs changed their manager in 2025 compared to 14 changes in CEO (and 23 in CFO) at FTSE 100 firms
- Average tenure of a FTSE 100 chief executive is 5.9 years (and that of CFOs is 3.7 years) compared to just 1.8 years for all football league managers (and 2.4 years for the Premier League alone)
- The average tenure of a FTSE 100 boss has been stable at between five and seven years since 2016, while football gaffers have been stuck at around barely eighteen months in which to make an impact
- Only three out of 90 current managers in the top four English divisions can match or beat the average 5.9-year tenure of a FTSE 100 CEO
“Shareholders are not necessarily famous for their patience, but they seem to possess more of it than football boardrooms or supporters. Events at Manchester United suggest as much, and there were, once more, fewer changes in FTSE 100 CEOs than English league football managers in 2025,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Fourteen FTSE 100 firms saw a change in chief executive, modestly above the post-2000 average of 13, while a new manager pitched up at no fewer than 46 of the 92 Premiership and Football League clubs in 2025, with nine of those 50 getting in a new man (and they were all men) on two occasions.
Source: Company accounts. *2026 changes as already announced or implemented, as of 5 January.
“Again, the FTSE 100 showed more stability here, as just two interim, stop-gap appointments were made, Nik Jhangiani at Diageo and Carol Howle at BP, and of the three firms to have already announced a change in 2026, only Rentokil Initial has yet to anoint a successor.
“The total of fourteen changes in CEO among FTSE 100 firms was only a fraction above the long-term average of 13 that prevails since 2000. Three well-trailered changes at the top have already taken place this year, compared to none at the same stage in January 2025, two in January 2024 and three in January 2023.
Source: Company accounts.* As of 5 January 2026
“After nineteen CEO changes in 2023, a period of relative calm has descended, with fifteen new bosses in 2024 and then last year’s fourteen. A stronger performance from the UK equity market may have helped in this respect, keeping shareholders sweet and activist investors at bay.
Source: Company accounts, LSEG Refinitiv data. *2026 changes as already announced or implemented, as of 5 January 2026.
“Even then, not all of 2025’s changes took place at the behest or time of the departing leader’s choosing, even if Imperial Brands’ Stefan Bomhard stepped down upon the successful completion of a five-year turnaround plan, bang on schedule. Unilever’s Hein Schumacher, Diageo’s Debra Crew, WPP’s Mark Read, Hikma Pharmaceuticals’ Riad Mishlawi and BP’s Murray Auchincloss all departed suddenly, after disappointing operational or share price performance, or both.
“As a result of all of these changes, the average tenure of a FTSE 100 CEO is now 71 months, or just under six years.
“Seventeen FTSE 100 bosses have been in charge for more than a decade and three – Evangelos Mytilineos at 2025’s index newcomer Metlen Energy & Metals, Next’s Lord Simon Wolfson and George Weston at Associated British Foods – have been in charge for more than 20 years.
“Another four bosses – Antofagasta’s Ivan Arriagada, Bunzl’s Frank van Zanten, Weir’s Jon Stanton and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ Damian Gammell – could join this list as they are due to reach their ten-year landmark in 2026. Rentokil Initial’s Andy Ransom will drop out of this list when he steps down this year.
Source: Company accounts. *As of 5 January 2026
“The average FTSE 100 leader’s tenure must make football managers green with envy.
“After the early-year departures of Enzo Maresca from Chelsea and now Ruben Amorim at Manchester United there are 90 gaffers in position across the Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two. Only three can beat the average FTSE 100 CEO’s tenure of 5.9 years and their average time in the dug-out is just 21.9 months, or 1.8 years.
“Only eleven football bosses can point to keeping their post for four years.
Source: Utilita Football Yearbook, club websites, BBC Sport website. *As of 5 January 2026
“Nor are football bosses getting much more time to get results on the pitch. The average tenure of 1.8 years is the highest this decade, but only a fraction ahead of the prior peak for longevity of 1.7 years reached at the start of 2021.
Source: Utilita Football Yearbook, club websites, BBC Sport website. *As of 5 January 2026
“The Championship is proving particularly cut-throat, as the riches of the Premier League lie tantalisingly within view, and the danger of the drop to League One and some serious economic hardship is a real danger for many.
Source: Company accounts, Utilita Football Yearbook, club websites, BBC Sport website. *As of 5 January 2026
“Granted, not all clubs change boss voluntarily. Some managers jump ship to go elsewhere, as happened at Middlesbrough, when Rob Edwards elected to join Wolverhampton Wanderers and Thomas Frank left Brentford for Tottenham Hotspur and John Eustace switched from Blackburn Rovers to Derby County. That left their former employers looking for a new manager.
“Nevertheless, the usual fate of a manager is the sack and 17 clubs in the Championship changed manager in 2025, compared to 12 in League One, nine in League Two and eight in the Premier League. Nine clubs changed manager twice in the course of the calendar year.
“As a result, the average League Two manager seems to get the most chance to prove their worth, at 2.7 years on average, compared to 2.4 years in the Premier League, 1.6 in League One and a frightening 1.1 years in the Championship. The overall average tenure for a football manager of just 1.8 years is already being matched or bettered by 80 bosses within the FTSE 100.
“Two seasons was all Cherie Lunghi got in the 1980s series The Manageress where she played Gabriella Benson, the manager of a team in the men’s Second Division (as it was then, Championship as it is now).
“That is one glass ceiling which women have yet to break in the UK, even if ten FTSE 100 firms have female chief executives or chairs of the board, in the case of two investment trusts.
Source: Company accounts. *As of 5 January 2026
“Advocates of diversity will still see that as a low hit rate, but the post of CFO is seeing more progress. 35 members of the FTSE 100 have a female CFO, and all other things being equal, that total will become 36 when Patricia Cobian takes on the role at BT this summer.
Source: Company accounts. *As of 5 January 2026
