👑🪒⚽️🏆To test my hypothesis that being clean-shaven correlates with world-class football management, I asked the AI to analyse managers from the Premier League, EFL Championship, major European leagues (e.g., La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1), and World Cup-winning teams since 1966. The sample includes 45 top managers—those who won major titles or achieved significant success—categorised as “clean-shaven” (no facial hair, light stubble) or “bearded” (full beards, goatees) during their peak periods.
🪒⚽️🏆Premier League
Since 1992, 14 managers have won the Premier League. Alex Ferguson (13 titles, Manchester United) was clean-shaven, as were Arsène Wenger (3, Arsenal), José Mourinho (3, Chelsea), Pep Guardiola (6, Manchester City), Carlo Ancelotti (1, Chelsea), Kenny Dalglish (1, Blackburn), Roberto Mancini (1, Manchester City), Manuel Pellegrini (1, Manchester City), Antonio Conte (1, Chelsea), and Claudio Ranieri (1, Leicester). Jürgen Klopp (1, Liverpool) was bearded. Current standouts Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) and Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham) are clean-shaven, while Sean Dyche (Everton) was bearded.
Tally: 13 clean-shaven, 2 bearded (87% clean-shaven).
🪒⚽️🏆EFL Championship
Focusing on recent promotion or title winners, Chris Hughton (Newcastle 2010, Brighton 2017), Neil Warnock (QPR 2011, Cardiff 2018), Rafa Benítez (Newcastle 2017), Scott Parker (Fulham 2020, Bournemouth 2022), Vincent Kompany (Burnley 2023), and Daniel Farke (Norwich 2019, 2021) were clean-shaven. Nuno Espírito Santo (Wolves 2018) was bearded. Tally: 6 clean-shaven, 1 bearded (86% clean-shaven).
🇪🇺🪒🏆European Leagues
Among managers winning major leagues or the Champions League post-1992, Pep Guardiola (Barcelona, Bayern), Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern), José Mourinho (Porto, Inter, Real Madrid), Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid), Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Thomas Tuchel (PSG, Chelsea), Jupp Heynckes (Bayern), Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus), and Luis Enrique (Barcelona) were clean-shaven. Jürgen Klopp (Dortmund) was bearded.
Tally: 9 clean-shaven, 1 bearded (90% clean-shaven).
🪒🌎🌍🌏🏆World Cup (1966–Present)
Of 13 World Cup-winning managers, Alf Ramsey (1966), Helmut Schön (1974), Enzo Bearzot (1982), Carlos Bilardo (1986), Franz Beckenbauer (1990), Aimé Jacquet (1998), Marcello Lippi (2006), Joachim Löw (2014), and Didier Deschamps (2018) were clean-shaven. César Luis Menotti (1978), Luiz Felipe Scolari (2002), Vicente del Bosque (2010), and Lionel Scaloni (2022) were bearded. Tally: 9 clean-shaven, 4 bearded (69% clean-shaven).
Overall Results
• Premier League: 13 clean-shaven, 2 bearded (87%).
• EFL Championship: 6 clean-shaven, 1 bearded (86%).
• European Leagues: 9 clean-shaven, 1 bearded (90%).
• World Cup: 9 clean-shaven, 4 bearded (69%).
Total: 37 clean-shaven, 8 bearded (82%).
Conclusion
👑🪒⚽️🏆Across 45 managers, 82% were clean-shaven, with club football (87–90%) showing a stronger trend than World Cup winners (69%).
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