The 10 English managers who are currently working in men’s international football

English managers have generally never travelled well beyond an exclusive club of greats defying the status quo, but that doesn’t stop them from trying their luck abroad.

Seeing an English manager turn their back on the European leagues for a rogue move to Asia or elsewhere is no longer that much of a shock, but there is a small group of managers in the men’s game who have sacked off club football altogether, subverted the norm and headed into international football – with seriously random nations around the world.

We’ll give Emma Hayes and Gemma Grainger their flowers now for flying the flag in the women’s international game with the USWNT and Norway respectively, but today we’re focused on the 10 managers currently in men’s international football. Strap in – you won’t predict a single one of these.

Steve McClaren – Jamaica

Ah, Stevie. Never fails to surprise us. Gets where water doesn’t, this lad.

We’re buzzing for you, genuinely. McClaren’s Reggae Boyz. Got a ring to it.  Let’s leave the accents at home this time though, yeah? Yeah.

Ashley Westwood – Afghanistan

No, not that one; the former Burnley man is strutting his stuff in MLS with Charlotte FC.

This Westwood graduated from Manchester United’s academy before embarking on a journeyman career in England’s lower tiers, but crucially never left the British Isles during his playing career. In fact, the furthest abroad he went was Wrexham in Wales.

However, after retiring in 2012 and taking up a career in management, his first job as a full-time manager was in India with Bengaluru FC. Westwood was in from there, managing in Malaysia before returning to India. The most bizarre opportunity of all presented itself in 2023 when he was appointed the manager of the Afghanistan national team, while 18 players boycotted the federation on suspicion of corruption.

Westwood is still in charge of Taliban-occupied Afghanistan, drawing two games so far this year, winning one and losing one.

Gary White – Chinese Taipei

After a promising youth career with Southampton, White’s senior playing career lasted just six years and ended in Australia with Fremantle City after a spell with Bognor Regis Town.

A well-travelled man, White has since managed just about everywhere he can. He’s currently in his second spell in charge of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) having spent a year in charge from 2017 to 2018. Their current 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign is looking bleak; White’s side have lost all four games they’ve played this year.

Either side of his two spells in charge of the Blue Wings, White has managed in China and Japan, the Hong Kong national team and a number of overseas territories. That sweet, sweet island life. Can you blame him?

Stephen Constantine – Pakistan

A knee injury quickly brought to an end Constantine’s playing career aged just 26, while he was out in the United States.

Born in London, the 62-year-old’s first managerial gig was the Nepal national team from 1999 to 2001, where his work saw him awarded a medal by the country’s king. A brief spell as a first-team coach at Millwall in the 2000s was enough to remind him that life in England is bobbins, thus he’s been in the international game ever since.

Constantine is currently in charge of Pakistan and led them to their first ever World Cup qualifiers victory in late 2023, a 1-0 win over Cambodia in Islamabad. His CV also boasts stints with: Rwanda, India, Malawi, Sudan, and ventures into club football in Cyprus and India.

Chris Kiwomya – British Virgin Islands

Remembered for spells with Ipswich and Arsenal as a player, Huddersfield-born Kiwomya hadn’t managed since leaving Notts County in 2013 when he got the call from the British Virgin Islands after almost a decade away from the touchline in 2021.

Three years on, he’s the BVI’s most successful manager having stopped a rot of nine straight defeats when he first joined, and most recently helping them to their first-ever CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group stages with a penalties victory over the US Virgin Islands. Proper derby.

West Yorkshire to the world.

Terry Connor – Grenada

West Yorkshire to the world x2. Connor – who enjoyed a strong career in the Football League – was a long-time coach and assistant at Wolves, eventually serving as Mick McCarthy’s number two.

He became a Premier League manager in 2012 following McCarthy’s departure, taking charge until the end of the season as Wolves were relegated to the Championship. Connor followed McCarthy to Ipswich in the years after and spent some time working for the Irish national team, but has been in charge of Grenada since 2023.

The Spice Boys are struggling at the moment, though, with their current winless run stretching back to last September.

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Lee Bowyer – Monterresat

With 397 Premier League appearances to his name and one cap for the England national team, Bowyer’s managerial career is still young and blossoming.

That’s why it’s even more absurd to think he waved goodbye to the English system to manage Monterresat in 2023, after spells with Charlton and Birmingham.

A British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean with a population of just over 4000, he’s endured a mixed time so far with their World Cup qualifying campaign kicking off with two losses.

Charlie Trout – Puerto Rico

A largely unknown quantity in football, you’ve probably never heard of Trout, but his story is fascinating.

Born in Nottingham, the 39-year-old is one of the youngest managers in the game, moving to the United States aged 22 to play collegiate-level soccer while studying at the University of Chicago. Before that, though, he’d dropped out of the professional game in England and had tried everything from roofing, to being a postman, and even an aerobics instructor.

Since taking charge in March 2023, Puerto Rico have lost three games and recently smashed Anguilla 8-0 in a World Cup qualifier. Remember the name and keep an eye on El Huracán Azul ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Ricky Hill – Turks and Caicos Islands

Playing most of his career at Luton Town throughout the 1980s before heading abroad as things wound down, 65-year-old Hill is now manager of the Turks and Caicos Islands, after spells in Jamaica, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and even England.

Somewhat of a legend and an icon for his work as both a player and a manager with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Hill’s Turks and Caicos Islands have got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a modest start with two draws.

He’s a busy man, too, is Hill. When he’s not on the touchline, he’s authoring. He released his own autobiography in 2021, titled: Love of the Game – “Ricky Hill: The Man Who Brought the Rooney Rule to the UK”. Planet Football review pending.

Darren Bazeley – New Zealand

Following a decade of service as a player with Watford and brief spells with Wolves and Walsall, Bazeley finished up his playing career in New Zealand, first with the New Zealand Knights and later Waitakere United.

That set the tone for a new life down under, where he has remained pretty much ever since, apart from a brief spell in MLS as assistant manager at the Colorado Rapids in 2018-19 and a few months in Australia with the Newcastle Jets alongside a former Wolves teammate.

It’s been all New Zealand around that though for Bazeley, who’s finally in the top job after several spells at youth level and as assistant manager. They’re currently on a four-game winning streak after a tough end to 2023 and the beginning of 2024.