Martin O'Neill returns to Celtic at 73 - Who are the oldest managers currently at clubs in Europe?

Martin Macdonald

• 28 Oct 2025 08:00 CDT
• 4 min read

Analysis

If you told a Celtic fan back in February when they were moments away from defeating Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena that by the following October, manager Brendan Rodgers would be away and replaced by veteran boss Martin O'Neill - you'd have been warned to put down the pilsner.

But, alas, this is the situation that the Scottish giants find themselves in.

Tensions have been high all season between the manager and the board and the fans and the board following what was one of the worst transfer windows the club has ever had.

Over the last two years, key players like Matt O'Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn have been allowed to go on their merry way with no adequate replacements identified.

An example of the malaise can be found in Celtic's striking options. Unproven, but certainly not young 25-year-old Shin Yamada, signed for just over £1 million, 22-year-old Johnny Kenny, prolific in Ireland but not in Scotland and 29-year-old Kelechi Iheanacho, signed in the dying seconds on Deadline Day after starting striker Adam Idah was sold to Swansea.

That was after the former Man City and Leicester striker had been unceremoniously released by Sevilla.

What has followed has been worse than many predicted, though, as following a 3-1 defeat by Hearts on Sunday, Celtic are now eight points off the pace in the Scottish Premiership which is unheard of in recent seasons. They are usually the team setting such a vast lead early on.

On Monday, Celtic announced Rodgers had left the club with O'Neill coming in as interim manager alongside assistant Shaun Maloney.

Saying Hoops fans were perplexed would be an understatement.

O'Neill is beloved by Celtic fans due to his exploits in the early noughties, leading the club to a domestic treble in his first season and, of course, the UEFA Cup Final in Seville in 2003. In all, he won seven trophies in his time at Celtic Park.

But, nobody, nobody, had predicted a return after two decades away.

O'Neill is 73 years old which makes him the oldest manager currently working in a major league in Europe. He also hasn't managed a club in nearly seven years, having had a stint at Nottingham Forest in 2019.

The Irishman is now the older statesman in European football, but who are some of the other veterans still in the dugout for club teams?

There are only two managers in Europe's major leagues who are over the age of 70 and that is O'Neill and Manuel Pellegrini of Real Betis.

Pellegrini has enjoyed a magnificent career and has managed some of the biggest clubs around in Man City and Real Madrid. He has been in charge of Betis since 2020.

There is only one manager in the Premier League in his sixties and that is Everton boss David Moyes at 62. The oldest manager in the history of the Premier League is Roy Hodgson, who returned for a stint at Crystal Palace between 2023 and 2024 when he was 75.

The Rome derbies this season will feature two veteran coaches in the dugout as 66-year-old Maurizio Sarri is in charge of Lazio and 67-year-old Gian Piero Gasperini is in charge of rivals Roma.

62-year-old Marco Baroni is also at the helm at Torino.

Rafa Benitez was recently appointed the head coach of Panathinaikos and this season he'll take on 64-year-old Olympiacos head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar for the title in Greece.

As for O'Neill, his main rivals this season are Hearts' Derek McInness and Rangers' Danny Rohl.

He is 19 years older than the former and a whopping 37 years older than the latter.

As it is just an interim role, it remains to be seen how long O'Neill will actually be in charge at Celtic Park but if he impresses...who knows?

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