In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager

Manager (association football)

In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...

 is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his usual duties. Caretaker managers are normally appointed at short notice from within the club, usually the assistant manager, a senior coach, or an experienced player.

Caretaker managers in practice

Famous examples include long-standing Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 assistant manager Stewart Houston

Stewart Houston

Stewart Mackie Houston is a Scottish former football player and coach.A left back, Houston's first professional club were Chelsea, but he failed to break into the first team and only made 14 appearances in five years. He was sold to Brentford in 1972...

, who stepped in after George Graham

George Graham (footballer)

George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...

 was abruptly sacked in the middle of the 1994–95

1994-95 in English football

-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...

 season and guided the club to the 1995 European Cup Winners' Cup Final

1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final

The 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match on 10 May 1995 contested between cup holders Arsenal of England and Real Zaragoza of Spain. The final was held at Parc des Princes in Paris. It was the final match of the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the 35th UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final...

. Tony Barton was appointed manager of Aston Villa after the departure of Ron Saunders

Ron Saunders

Ron Saunders is a retired English football player and former successful manager. He remains the only manager to have taken charge of Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, normally bitter rivals....

 and led the club to win the 1982 European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 after only three months in charge. Club Director Trevor Brooking

Trevor Brooking

Sir Trevor David Brooking CBE is a football player turned manager, on-air analyst, and administrator.Brooking attended Ripple Infants School and left Ilford County High School with 11 O-levels and 2 A-levels....

 was appointed as caretaker manager of West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 following Glenn Roeder

Glenn Roeder

Glenn Victor Roeder is an English football manager and former player, most recently in charge at Norwich City. As a player, Roeder represented England B on 7 occasions...

's illness at the end of the 2002–03 season

2002-03 in English football

The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...

, then again following his dismissal early in the 2003–04 season

2003-04 in English football

The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....

.

Caretaker to permanent appointments

If a caretaker proves to be particularly successful during their spell in charge, they are sometimes given the manager's job full-time. Glenn Roeder was appointed full-time manager of Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 after having taken over as caretaker following Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness

Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...

' dismissal in 2006. This also occurred when Ricky Sbragia

Ricky Sbragia

Richard "Ricky" Sbragia is a Scottish former footballer and manager. As a coach, he spent time at Manchester United and Bolton, before joining Roy Keane's backroom staff at Sunderland. Sbragia became manager of Sunderland following Keane's departure, although he himself resigned in 2009 after...

 got the Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

 job permanently after Roy Keane

Roy Keane

Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....

's resignation in November 2008 but he resigned himself at the end of the season 2008–09. In Norway, a notable example occurred in 2006

Norwegian Premier League 2006

The 2006 season of the Norwegian Premier League began on April 9, 2006 and ended on November 5, 2006. Rosenborg became champions on October 29, with one round to go, by defeating Viking at home...

 when Rosenborg BK manager Per-Mathias Høgmo

Per-Mathias Høgmo

Per-Mathias Høgmo is a football manager from Norway and former player. He is currently the manager at Norwegian Premier League team Tromsø IL, and is the only person in the world with a PhD in football.- Biography :...

 announced he was taking a leave of absence in mid-season, citing health concerns. At the time, Rosenborg were ten points behind leaders SK Brann

S.K. Brann

SK Brann is a Norwegian football club, founded September 26, 1908, from Bergen. Brann has been in the Norwegian Premier League Tippeligaen since 1987 and play their home matches at Brann Stadion where they had a record-breaking 17,310 in average attendance in the 2007 season...

. His assistant Knut Tørum was appointed on an interim basis, and proceeded to lead Rosenborg to a furious comeback, clinching the league title with one match to spare. Høgmo announced his resignation two days after Rosenborg clinched, and Tørum was named permanent manager after the season.

On the other hand, Tony Parkes

Tony Parkes

Anthony "Tony" Parkes is an English former professional footballer. After retiring, he became a coach. He was most recently caretaker manager at Blackpool. It was the seventh such role of his coaching career, having performed the role on six occasions for...

 was named caretaker manager of Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 on six separate occasions between 1986 and 2004, without ever being given the role in a full-time capacity. He is still yet to be given a full-time managerial role.

Notable success

In November 2007, Sandy Stewart led St Johnstone to victory in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup in his only game in charge as caretaker manager.

In the 2007-2008 season, Cevat Güler

Cevat Güler

Cevat Güler is a Turkish former football player and coach.After Karl Heinz Feldkamp resigned at the end of 2007–2008 season, he took over the managership and became the first coach to win the Turkcell Süper Lig by joining a club after the season start...

 won Turkish Super League as Galatasaray

Galatasaray

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...

's caretaker manager. He was in charge for the last five matches of the season due to Karl Heinz Feldkamp's resignation.