5 football coaches you (probably) didn’t know are Christians.
Written by G Njuguna on April 6, 2024
Today we move from players to their coaches or managers you (probably) didn’t know are Christians. Here are 5 of them that we shall talk about today.
1. Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti Photo: Credit
Ancelotti is regarded as one of the most successful managers of all time and is due to start managing Bayern Munich in the summer of 2016. He once said, ‘I believe in God, and I pray, although for personal matters, not for football. I think God has better things to do.’
2. Jurgen Klopp
Jurgen Klopp Photo: Credit: Coaches’ Voice
Liverpool’s manager once wrote, ‘although there is no football God, I believe that there is a God who loves us humans, just as we are, with all our quirks, and that’s why I think he also loves football! But we have to score our own goals’. While other managers have kept quiet about their faith, Klopp takes a different approach. ‘To be a believer, but not to want to talk about it – I do not know how it would work! If anyone asks me about my faith, I give information. Not because I have claim to be any sort of missionary. But when I look at me and my life – and I take time for that every day – then I feel I am in sensationally good hands.’
He has even done interviews proclaiming his faith openly.
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3. David Moyes
David Moyes Credit: Getty Images
When asked about his faith in an interview with the Independent, the previous Manchester United manager said ‘I don’t talk about it too much…I was brought up in a Christian family. I go to church whenever I can.’ Roy McDonough, who played alongside Moyes at Cambridge United side in the 1980s recalls Moyes sitting at the back of the changing rooms with ‘a little black book’, discussing his beliefs with other Christians. The group took a lot of stick for their beliefs, but apparently ‘turned the other cheek’.
4. Tony Pulis
Tony Pulis Credit: Coaches’ Voice
The head coach at West Bromwich Albion is a Catholic and regularly attends church. He regularly goes to confession because he ‘sins more than anyone’. The 57 year old Welshman has run the London Marathon and climbed Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Donna Louise Children’s Hospice.
5. Steve McClaren
Steve McClaren, England manager. Soccer – UEFA European Championship 2008 Qualifying – Group E – England v Croatia – Wembley Stadium
Photo: Credit
Former England manager Steve McClaren is currently the Head Coach at Newcastle United. Although the manager hasn’t given interviews where he’s spoken about his beliefs, he is rumoured to have a strong Christian faith. Earlier this year he gave a seminar on leadership at Devoted – a Christian festival. He’s also officially launched the King’s Church Football Academy in Darlington.
