By Enitan Abdultawab 

A team’s success in terms of winning a trophy does not hinge on the players alone; there’s also a coaching factor. Football coaches determine what tactics and formations a team will play and also what players can perfectly play them.

In light of the foregoing, some coaches have enjoyed significant club successes. They have thus amassed a plethora of trophies, thus making them rank as successful gaffers, as it is the biggest measure of good coaches.

Let’s take a look at them.

10. Giovanni Trapattoni – 23 titles

The Italian managed Juventus under separate stints but won every trophy possible, except the Super Italia Cup. With 23 titles to his name, Trapattoni’s trophy successes included six Serie A titles, the European Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

9. Ottmar Hitzfeld – 25 titles

Hitzfield was coach at clubs such as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, where he enjoyed most of his managerial successes, despite starring for a while in Switzerland. The German won seven (7) Bundesliga titles and two (2) UEFA Champions Leagues with both Bayern Munchen and Borussia Dortmund.

8. Jock Stein – 26 titles

Jock Stein passed away in 1985, but as a fulfilled coach and manager in the history of football. The Scottish man won all titles available for Celtic within 13 years. 

7. Luiz Felipe Scolari – 26 titles

Scolari’s successes happened during his stints at clubs like Palmeira, Gremio, ,and the Brazil national team. The Brazilian has a total of 26 trophies, which include a World Cup triumph with Brazil in 

The 70-year-old is currently coaching Athletico Mineiro after coming out of retirement.

6. Jose Mourinho – 26 titles

The Special One, as he called him, Jose Mourinho’s name on this list is no surprise. He has enjoyed successful spells at Porto, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan, and recently at Roma, where he won the maiden UEFA Conference League, making him the only coach to have won all European cups. Jose Mourinho currently manages Turkish side Fenerbahce.

5. Carlo Ancelotti – 28 trophies

Only a few modern coaches can boast of the profile of Ancelotti in terms of the number of trophies he has won. The Italian has a big record—he is the only coach to have won a league title or more in Europe’s top five leagues. He has also won European Championships, including a record 5 Champions League titles.

4. Valeriy Lobanovskyi – 29 titles

The Ukrainian talisman managed Dynamo Kyiv and won the league title thirteen (13) times. He orchestrated a lot of tactical innovation during his stint there, including the ‘Total Football’, and made Kiev one of the best teams on the continent where they always reached the last eight (8) or further.

3. Mircea Lucescu – 32 titles

Lucescu currently coaches Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine. He was coach for clubs like Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Besiktas, Zenit St. Petersburg, and even Brescia, which he guided to a Serie B title in 1991/1992. He has also enjoyed significant successes in continental competitions, including a 2000 Super Cup trophy, which was wrestled from Real Madrid.

2. Pep Guardiola – 40 trophies

Who else but Pep Guardiola in the second position? The Spaniard has won 40 trophies, which included three UEFA Champions League and numerous league titles across Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, where he transformed the team into a trophy-possessed entity. 

Last season, Guardiola’s Manchester City won a record four consecutive league titles, surpassing Alex Ferguson’s three between 1998/99, 1999/00, and 2000/01.

1. Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson is a legend of the job. He is also a leading figure who every coach looks up to. The Scottish manager was in charge of Manchester United for 27 years, winning 37 titles, including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League trophies.

Before this stint, Ferguson had won five Scottish league titles with Aberdeen.