Jurgen Klopp news: A look at managers who retired - then got lured back into the dugout
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hinted this week that his managerial career may be over.
Having managed Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, the 57-year-old said: “As of today, that's it for me as a coach. I didn't quit on a whim, but it was a general decision.
“I've also coached the best clubs in the world.”
However, in classic style, he left the door of a return slightly ajar by saying: “Maybe we can talk about it again in a few months.”
In his illustrious career, Klopp has won the Premier League, Champions League and the Bundesliga.
The German is currently out of work having stepped down from the manager’s role at Anfield at the end of last season.
Numerous managers have failed to stick to their original decision of retiring having tried unsuccessfully to let go of the game.
Whether it was down to their drive to win, an impressive payday etc, they just had to make a comeback.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Jon Shea looks at a few other managers who said they would retire, yet they found themselves in a dugout in no time at all.
Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson had a managerial career that lasted nearly half a century - and in that time he managed all over Europe.
He managed some top players like Ronaldo Nazario and Steven Gerrard at club level, while also having a crack at international football with Switzerland, Finland, and of course, England.
At the end of the 2020/21 season, it looked as though his career as a manager had come to an end at the age 73 when he left his boyhood club Crystal Palace.
However, at the ripe old age of 74, he returned to management in the Premier League to manage Watford in a desperate attempt to avoid relegation.
Ultimately Hodgson and Watford failed to reach their goal and the Hornets were relegated.
Both parties agreed to go their separate ways, and it looked like it was his last hurrah as a manager.
However, in March 2023, he returned to management again at Crystal Palace where he replaced Patrick Vieira.
His first match back saw him become the oldest manager in Premier League history at 74 years and 286 days, beating the record he set himself.
Hodgson managed to keep Palace up that season - and stayed on for a further year, but his spell was cut short and in February 2024 he was relieved of his duties as manager, days after he was taken ill in training.
He has since recovered and is back in retirement.
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Sir Alex Ferguson
Arguably the greatest manager in the history of British football, Sir Alex Ferguson ended his long managerial career in 2013, bowing out with the Premier League in his hands.
However, in 2001 the Scot announced that he was going to retire at the end of the 2001-2002 season.
He was in his late 50s at the time and it looked as though his time was done at Old Trafford having completed the three-peat in 2001.
His announcement seemed to damage Manchester United’s league form, as they found themselves mid table for the early part of the 2001-02 season.
Ferguson made an astonishing U-Turn and announced he would stay on as Manchester United manager, which turned the tide as the Red Devils won 13 of their last 15 games.
It was not enough to win their fourth league title in a row as Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal snatched the title away from their grasp.
The Scot stayed on and rebuilt for the next 11 years, winning a further six league titles and the European Cup in 2008.
He ended his Manchester United career with an astonishing 13 league titles, two European Cups, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and a Club World Cup – so it’s fair to say it was a good decision to stay on and cement his status as one of the greatest managers of all time.
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Neil Warnock
Neil Warnock is a true football personality, but also a very good manager to go with it.
He has secured more promotions than any other manager, with seven promotions across his long career.
Three of those successful campaigns were promotions to the Premier League as he got Sheffield United, QPR and Cardiff City into England’s top tier.
Following two years at Middlesborough he decided to retire from management in 2022, initially ending a 42-year career in the dugout.
Just 10 months later he returned to the game as manager of Huddersfield Town, who he previously coached between 1993 and 1995.
His initial target was to save Huddersfield from relegation, which he duly managed despite the Terriers being 10 points adrift in March.
Warnock signed on for another year in charge but left the club in September 2023.
Still, that was not the last time we saw him in the dugout as he was announced as manager of Aberdeen in February 2024.
At the age of 75, it does seem his managerial career is actually over as he left the club at the end of the 2023-24 season - but he is still involved in football as an advisor of National League side Torquay United.
Jupp Heynckes
Jupp Heynckes has managed some of the greatest football teams in Europe, having won the European Cup with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
He had stints at Borussia Monchengladbach, Athletic Bilbao, Benfica, Schalke, Tenerife and Eintracht Frankfurt.
He initially brought his managerial career to an end after an astonishing season at Bayern Munich.
Winning the treble of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and Champions League, it looked as though he had gone out on the highest of highs, having assembled a team labelled as arguably the greatest in the history of Bayern Munich.
He had said in an interview to “never say never” when asked about managing again shortly after leaving Bayern.
And he did return to management four years later, to manage Bayern for the third time following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti in 2017.
Heynckes stayed until the end of the 2017-18 season and won the Bundesliga.
He has not managed since this stint. The 79-year-old is enjoying his retirement now and we may not see the German back in the dugout.
With over 1,600 games managed over 40 years, Heynckes is one of the greatest managers in European history.
Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal is one of the great football personalities as he is one of the managers you either love or loathe.
He has had a successful career as a manager with Barcelona, Ajax, Manchester United and the Dutch National Team on his impressive CV.
He looked as though he had retired after the 2015-16 season after leaving Manchester United. Winning the FA Cup seemed to be his final bow.
In 2017 it was said he retired due to “family reasons.” He had spent five years out of the game until he was announced as the Dutch National Team manager for the third time in 2021, to lead them to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Dutch reached their first World Cup since 2014 and reached the quarter-finals - they were perhaps unfortunate to be knocked out on penalties by eventual winners, Argentina.
He has since announced his retirement from management again, and the 72-year-old is enjoying his break.
Van Gaal leaves the game with a European Cup, four Eredivisie titles, two La Liga titles, and one Bundesliga title – not a bad list of honours for the Dutchman.
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