List of São Paulo FC managers

The following is a list of São Paulo Futebol Clube managers throughout the club's history. From the foundation of the club on January 26, 1930, there have been 83 head coaches - 67 Brazilian nationals, and 16 foreigners including five Uruguayans, five Argentines, three Hungarians, one Portuguese, one Chilean and one Colombian. Twenty one managers have won official titles by Tricolor resulting in 12 international and 29 national honours.

Vicente Feola was the coach who led the team more often, between 1938 and 1960, in 8 times with 532 matches.
Leônidas da Silva was a successful São Paulo's player in the 40s and made a quickly manager career after his retirement training the Tricolor in 4 opportunities.
The famous Hungarian head coach Bela Guttmann, made a winning performance in 1957-58 with a Campeonato Paulista title in 1957.
Telê Santana, known as Master Telê is acclaimed as the greatest coach in the club's history. Won 10 titles in only 6 years including the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup.
Paulo Autuori was in charge of the team in 2005, in only 8 months won the Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Championship.
Muricy Ramalho is respected by his deeds under São Paulo's command, as the Copa Conmebol title with second team in 1994 and the 3 national titles won in a row in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Rogério Ceni made history such a player with most record broken by The Dearest as goalkeeper in 26 years of career, being head coach 1 year after his retirement.

The first coach in São Paulo's history was Rubens Salles, a former defensive midfielder of extinct Club Athletico Paulistano, who played as a professional between 1906 and 1920. Salles led the team for 4 years, in the period which the club was known as São Paulo da Floresta, winning the Campeonato Paulista (State of São Paulo league) in 1931 and being runners-up in 1930, 1932 and 1933. He also participated in the campaign that led Tricolor to the second place in 1934. His career ended prematurely due to his death on July 21 of the same year.

The club underwent rapid changes following Salles's death, facing internal disagreements and fast dissociations which culminated in the closure and rebuilding of football activities in December 1935. Since then, the team remained for eight years without a title, 12 altogether from 1931 that were interrupted by the group's of Portuguese coach Joreca. He coached the Tricolor between the years 1943 and 1947 when he won state championships of 1943 (without defeat under his command), 1945 (with only two setbacks) and 1946 (undefeated).

In the subsequent years from the successful seasons of Joreca by São Paulo, the club won two titles in a row in 1948 and 1949 under command of the famous manager Vicente Feola who had coached the team on several occasions. Feola would be later known for leading the Brazil to their first World Cup title in 1958, defeating Sweden. The team came back to win the state title in 1953 with the Argentine Jim López and 1958 under the command of experienced Hungarian coach Béla Guttmann, who coached other major teams, such as Milan, Peñarol, Porto and Benfica.

The 60s was marked by another title drought, this time influenced by the construction of the Morumbi Stadium and the period of hegemony of rivals Santos and Palmeiras who dominated"the state and national tournaments from 1958 to 1969.

Tricolor returned to the top of the state championship in 1970 with Zezé Moreira, in 1971 with Osvaldo Brandão and 1975 under the command of Argentine club idol José Poy. Poy played goalkeeper in São Paulo from 1948 to 1962 and was considered for an appointment as manager for the Brazil in the 1954 World Cup. After his retirement, Poy helped the club on the construction of Morumbi having sold nearly 8000 titles of guaranteed spots, one of the main sources of income of the work. The former goalkeeper led the team in 5 occasions, reaching remarkable results as the vice championships in the state league in 1982, and national league of 1971 and 1973, and to the 1974 Copa Libertadores, losing to the most successful club in the history of continental tournament, then four-time champions, Independiente.

The national title that had was not achieved under the command of Poy was finally achieved by Rubens Minelli in 1977 who had been the winning coach in the two previous editions on the managing of Internacional, becoming the first head coach to won three Brazilian league titles in a row and the first by São Paulo. The event was taken in a single final match against Atlético Mineiro in Belo Horizonte. After regulation, the score was 0-0, but São Paulo won a 3-2 penalty shootout victory by in front of 102,974 rival supporters.

In the 80s, São Paulo had winning seasons - adding 5 more state titles along with a second national title in 1986. Carlos Alberto Silva made two quick successful rounds at the seasons of 1980-81 and 1989-90 when reached 2 titles of Campeonato Paulista respectively in 1980 and 1989. In the following years with Formiga, 1981, and Cilinho for 2 times, 1985 and 1987, The Dearest won the state championship again. The second national trophy became in 1986 with an young group players who was called as Menudos do Morumbi in reference to the famous 70s Puerto Rican boy band Menudo (band). The team was trained by former player and 2 times world champion Pepe that received a group assembled by Cilinho. The team was formed by promising players as Müller, Silas and Sidney; and experienced like Daryo Pereira, Careca and Pita.

The 90s decade was the most victory period of Tricolor's history, under the command of Telê Santana, who was called as Mestre Telê (Master Telê) by the fans, the club won 7 international tournaments in only 3 years, from 1992 to 1994, among the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup in 1992 and 1993; the Recopa Sudamericana in 1993 and 1994 along the Supercopa Sudamericana in 1993. During the 6 years who trained the team Telê broke a Brazilian stigma created in the 80s due his participations in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup when the coach was eliminated with Brazil National Team at the final stage of the tournament. In 1994, the assistant coach Muricy Ramalho, who made history playing for São Paulo in the 70s, took an important place again by winning the Copa Conmebol with only young and reserve players when the team was called as Expressinho (Little Express Train) in refer to the performance of the club during the tournament. In 1996 Telê Santana left the club after 6 years and then the team passed for a long period of fewer and inexpressive titles. Tricolor was champion in the Campeonato Paulista in 1998 being trained by Nelsinho Baptista and won it again 2 years later.

Between 2005 and 2008, the club enjoyed a successful spell under the management of Paulo Autuori, who won the 2005 Copa Libertadores and the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup, and then with the return of Muricy Ramalho, who won three league titles in a row. Ney Franco is the manager to have most recently an honour for the club, the 2012 Copa Sudamericana.

List of managers

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  • Figures correct as of 1 December 2024. Includes all official matches

This list of all managers includes performance records and honours.[1][2]
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Name Nation From To P W D L GF GA Win%[3] Honours
Rubens Salles   BRA 16 March 1930 8 June 1930 16 8 6 2 (n/a) (n/a) 50%
Ramón Platero   URU 8 July 1930 28 December 1930 18 13 5 0 (n/a) (n/a) 72%
Rubens Salles   BRA 1931 10 January 1932 25 19 5 1 (n/a) (n/a) 77% see below
Formiga   BRA 6 April 1932 15 May 1932 6 2 1 3 (n/a) (n/a) 39%
Jenő Medgyessy   HUN May 1932 January 1933 13 12 1 0 (n/a) (n/a) 95%
Clodô   BRA March 1933 1935 74 52 11 11 (n/a) (n/a) 76%
Armando Del Debbio   BRA 1936 1937 42 13 9 20 (n/a) (n/a) 38%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1937 1938 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Tito Rodrigues   ARG 1938 1938 22 9 2 11 (n/a) (n/a) 44%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1938 1939 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Ignác Amsel   HUN May 1939 October 1939 21 9 1 11 (n/a) (n/a) 44%
Décio Pedroso c   BRA 1939 1939 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Armando Gomes c   BRA 1939 1939 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Amílcar Barbuy   BRA 1939 1940 19 12 0 7 (n/a) (n/a) 63%
Ramón Platero   URU May 1940 December 1940 36 13 6 17 (n/a) (n/a) 42%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1941 1942 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Conrado Ross   URU March 1942 May 1943 49 27 12 10 (n/a) (n/a) 63%
Joreca   POR May 1943 October 1947 172 115 31 26 (n/a) (n/a) 73% see below
Alberto Zarzur c   BRA 1947 1947 5 4 0 1 (n/a) (n/a) 80%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1947 1950 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
Leônidas da Silva   BRA 1950 1951 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Ariston de Oliveira   BRA 1951 1951 16 8 2 6 (n/a) (n/a) 54%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1951 1953 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Jim López   ARG June 1953 October 1954 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
Leônidas da Silva   BRA 1954 1955 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Vicente Feola   BRA 1955 1957 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
Hélio Caxambu c   BRA 1957 1957 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Béla Guttmann   HUN March 1957 January 1958 97 46 28 23 (n/a) (n/a) 57% see below
Manoel Raymundo c   BRA 1958 1958 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Armando Renganeschi   ARG August 1958 May 1959 56 33 14 9 (n/a) (n/a) 67%
Vicente Feola   BRA 1959 1960 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Remo Januzzi   BRA 1960 1960 14 4 3 7 (n/a) (n/a) 36%
Flávio Costa   BRA 1960 1961 65 23 17 25 (n/a) (n/a) 44%
Manoel Raymundo c   BRA 1961 1961 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Cláudio Cardoso   BRA 1961 1961 22 15 3 4 (n/a) (n/a) 73%
Hélio Caxambu c   BRA 1961 1961 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Aymoré Moreira   BRA 1962 1962 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Hélio Caxambu c   BRA 1962 1962 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Osvaldo Brandão   BRA 1962 1964 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Otto Vieira   BRA 1964 1964 30 14 10 6 (n/a) (n/a) 58%
José Poy   ARG January 1964 February 1965 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Jim López   ARG August 1965 December 1965 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Aymoré Moreira   BRA 1966 1966 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Sylvio Pirillo   BRA 1967 1968 85 40 25 20 (n/a) (n/a) 57%
Diede Lameiro   BRA 1968 1969 85 40 18 27 (n/a) (n/a) 54%
Zezé Moreira   BRA 1970 1970 59 21 20 18 (n/a) (n/a) 47% see below
Osvaldo Brandão   BRA 1971 1971 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
José Poy   ARG October 1971 December 1971 13 7 4 2 17 8 69%
Alfredo Ramos   BRA 1972 1972 42 23 15 4 (n/a) (n/a) 67%
Cosme Geraldino c   BRA 7 September 1972 10 September 1972 2 1 0 1 (n/a) (n/a) 50%
Vail Mota   BRA 1972 1972 10 2 4 4 (n/a) (n/a) 33%
José Poy   ARG October 1972 December 1972 17 11 2 4 42 20 71%
Telê Santana   BRA January 1973 June 1973 30 11 13 6 30 24 58%
José Poy   ARG July 1973 October 1976 241 112 92 37 313 156 66% see below
Mário Juliato c   BRA October 1976 December 1976 9 5 2 2 12 6 (n/a)
Rubens Minelli   BRA 1977 1979 168 79 48 41 (n/a) (n/a) 57% see below
Mário Juliato   BRA February 1979 November 1979 66 26 22 18 76 58 (n/a)
Carlos Alberto Silva   BRA 1980 1981 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
João Leal Neto c   BRA 1981 1981 18 9 1 8 (n/a) (n/a) 52%
Chico Formiga   BRA 1981 1982 71 42 10 19 (n/a) (n/a) 64% see below
José Poy   ARG June 1982 May 1983 73 43 16 14 126 62 (n/a)
José Carlos Serrão c   BRA 1983 1983 1 1 0 0 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Mário Travaglini   BRA 1983 1984 64 29 24 11 (n/a) (n/a) 58%
Valdir de Moraes c   BRA 1984 1984 17 7 6 4 (n/a) (n/a) 53%
Cilinho   BRA 1984 1986 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
José Carlos Serrão c   BRA 1986 1986 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Pepe   BRA 1986 1987 45 22 16 7 (n/a) (n/a) 61% see below
José Carlos Serrão c   BRA 1987 1987 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Cilinho   BRA 1987 1989 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
Pupo Gimenez c   BRA 1989 1989 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Carlos Alberto Silva   BRA 1989 1990 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) see below
Pupo Gimenez   BRA 1990 1990 (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Pablo Forlán   URU May 1990 October 1990 29 12 11 6 (n/a) (n/a) 41%
Telê Santana   BRA October 1990 January 1996 382 187 109 86 (n/a) (n/a) 48% see below
Muricy Ramalho c   BRA January 1996 July 1996 40 23 10 7 (n/a) (n/a) 57% see below
Carlos Alberto Parreira   BRA August 1996 October 1996 21 7 6 8 (n/a) (n/a) 33%
Muricy Ramalho   BRA November 1996 April 1997 31 13 13 5 (n/a) (n/a) 41%
Dario Pereyra   URU April 1997 February 1998 63 25 22 16 (n/a) (n/a) 39%
Nelsinho Baptista   BRA February 1998 September 1998 40 20 6 14 79 60 50% see below
Pita c   BRA September 1998 September 1998 2 1 1 0 3 1 50%
Mário Sérgio   BRA September 1998 November 1998 10 3 1 6 15 14 30%
Paulo César Carpegiani   BRA January 1999 December 1999 67 40 7 20 144 84 59%
Milton Cruz c   BRA December 1999 December 1999 1 1 0 0 2 1 100%
Levir Culpi   BRA January 2000 November 2000 78 42 18 18 161 110 53% see below
Vadão   BRA January 2001 May 2001 30 16 4 10 71 44 53% see below
Nelsinho Baptista   BRA June 2001 May 2002 68 32 16 20 152 100 47%
Oswaldo de Oliveira   BRA May 2002 May 2003 59 32 13 14 131 82 54% see below
Roberto Rojas   CHI May 2003 December 2003 52 28 13 11 95 65 53%
Cuca   BRA 16 December 2003 2 September 2004 50 29 8 13 63 49 58%
Emerson Leão   BRA 3 September 2004 30 April 2005 45 27 12 6 106 48 60% see below
Milton Cruz c   BRA April 2005 April 2005 3 0 2 1 3 4 0%
Paulo Autuori   BRA 29 April 2005 29 December 2005 55 26 11 18 104 77 47% see below
Muricy Ramalho   BRA 3 January 2006 20 June 2009 252 139 67 46 412 223 55% see below
Milton Cruz c   BRA June 2009 June 2009 1 0 0 1 1 3 0%
Ricardo Gomes   BRA 21 June 2009 6 August 2010 75 38 16 21 123 78 50%
Milton Cruz c   BRA August 2010 August 2010 1 0 1 0 1 1 0%
Sérgio Baresi c   BRA 11 August 2010 3 October 2010 14 5 4 5 18 23 35%
Paulo César Carpegiani   BRA 4 October 2010 7 July 2011 47 30 4 13 79 50 63%
Milton Cruz c   BRA July 2011 July 2011 2 2 0 0 5 1 100%
Adílson Batista   BRA 17 July 2011 17 October 2011 22 7 9 6 35 30 31%
Milton Cruz c   BRA October 2011 October 2011 2 1 1 0 1 0 50%
Emerson Leão   BRA 24 October 2011 26 June 2012 44 26 6 12 82 49 59%
Milton Cruz c   BRA 27 June 2012 5 July 2012 2 2 0 0 6 3 100%
Ney Franco   BRA 6 July 2012 5 July 2013 79 41 16 22 127 73 51% see below
Milton Cruz c   BRA July 2013 July 2013 2 0 0 2 1 4 0%
Paulo Autuori   BRA 11 July 2013 9 September 2013 17 3 4 10 12 23 17%
Muricy Ramalho   BRA 9 September 2013 5 April 2015 110 59 22 30 175 111 53%
Milton Cruz c   BRA 8 April 2015 23 May 2015 10 7 0 3 17 6 70%
Juan Carlos Osorio   COL 6 June 2015 3 October 2015 26 11 7 8 34 27 42%
Doriva   BRA 14 October 2015 8 November 2015 7 2 1 4 10 13 28%
Milton Cruz c   BRA 19 November 2015 6 December 2015 4 3 0 1 9 10 75%
Edgardo Bauza   ARG 30 January 2016 24 July 2016 46 17 12 17 55 48 36%
André Jardine c   BRA 7 August 2016 14 August 2016 2 1 0 1 2 2 50%
Ricardo Gomes   BRA 16 August 2016 20 November 2016 19 6 5 7 18 16 31%
Pintado c   BRA 27 November 2016 11 December 2016 2 2 0 0 7 1 100%
Rogério Ceni   BRA 19 January 2017 2 July 2017 37 14 13 10 55 42 37%
Pintado c   BRA 9 July 2017 9 July 2017 1 0 0 1 2 3 0%
Dorival Júnior   BRA 13 July 2017 9 March 2018 40 17 11 12 50 45 42%
André Jardine c   BRA 11 March 2018 14 March 2018 2 2 0 0 6 1 100%
Diego Aguirre   URU 17 March 2018 11 November 2018 44 20 14 10 52 37 45%
André Jardine   BRA 15 November 2018 13 February 2019 15 4 3 8 13 17 26%
Vagner Mancini c   BRA 17 February 2019 30 March 2019 9 3 4 2 8 6 33%
Cuca   BRA 7 April 2019 25 September 2019 26 9 10 7 24 19 34%
Fernando Diniz   BRA 28 September 2019 31 January 2021 77 35 21 21 120 89 45%
Marcos Vizolli c   BRA 31 January 2021 12 February 2021 5 2 2 1 6 5 40%
Hernán Crespo   ARG 12 February 2021 13 October 2021 57 24 21 12 90 54 42% see below
Rogério Ceni   BRA 13 October 2021 19 April 2023 106 49 28 29 156 107 46%
Dorival Júnior   BRA 20 April 2023 7 January 2024 54 25 13 16 64 46 46% see below
Thiago Carpini   BRA 11 January 2024 18 April 2024 18 7 6 5 26 19 39% see below
Milton Cruz c   BRA 18 April 2024 21 April 2024 1 1 0 0 3 0 100%
Luis Zubeldía   ARG 19 April 2024 Present 47 23 14 10 63 39 49%

Managers with official honours

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Name Nation Tenure Honours
Rubens Salles   BRA 1930, 1931–32 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1931)
Joreca   POR 1943–47 Campeonato Paulista: 3 (1943, 1945, 1946)
Vicente Feola   BRA 1937, 1938–39, 1941–42, 1947–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1955–57, 1959–60 Campeonato Paulista: 2 (1948, 1949)
Jim López   ARG 1953–54 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1953)
Béla Guttmann   HUN 1957–58 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1957)
Zezé Moreira   BRA 1970 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1970)
Osvaldo Brandão   BRA 1962–64, 1971 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1971)
José Poy   ARG 1964–65, 1971, 1972, 1973–76, 1982–83 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1975)
Rubens Minelli   BRA 1977–79 Campeonato Brasileiro: 1 (1977)
Carlos Alberto Silva   BRA 1980–81, 1989–90 Campeonato Paulista: 2 (1980, 1989)
Chico Formiga   BRA 1981–82 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1981)
Cilinho   BRA 1984–86, 1987–88 Campeonato Paulista: 2 (1985, 1987)
Pepe   BRA 1986–87 Campeonato Brasileiro: 1 (1986)
Telê Santana   BRA 1973, 1990–96 Intercontinental Cup: 2 (1992, 1993)
Copa Libertadores: 2 (1992, 1993)
Supercopa Libertadores: 1 (1993)
Recopa Sudamericana: 2 (1993, 1994)
Campeonato Brasileiro: 1 (1991)
Campeonato Paulista: 2 (1991, 1992)
Muricy Ramalho   BRA 1994, 1996–97, 2006–09, 2013–15 Campeonato Brasileiro: 3 (2006, 2007, 2008)
Copa Conmebol: 1 (1994)
Copa Masters CONMEBOL: 1 (1996)
Nelsinho Baptista   BRA 1998, 2001–02 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (1998)
Levir Culpi   BRA 2000 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (2000)
Vadão   BRA 2001 Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1 (2001)
Oswaldo de Oliveira   BRA 2002–03 Supercampeonato Paulista: 1 (2002)
Émerson Leão   BRA 2004–05, 2011–12 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (2005)
Paulo Autuori   BRA 2005, 2013 FIFA Club World Cup: 1 (2005)
Copa Libertadores: 1 (2005)
Ney Franco   BRA 2012–13 Copa Sudamericana: 1 (2012)
Hernán Crespo   ARG 2021 Campeonato Paulista: 1 (2021)
Dorival Júnior   BRA 2017–18, 2023–24 Copa do Brasil: 1 (2023)
Thiago Carpini   BRA 2024 Supercopa do Brasil: 1 (2024)

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Snell Jr., Raul; Sátiro Santiago, José Renato (2020). Almanaque do São Paulo – 90 Anos de Glórias (in Portuguese). ISBN 978-65-00-06303-5.
  2. ^ Michael Serra. "Enciclopédia Volume 47 – Todos os treinadores do SPFC" (PDF) (in Portuguese). SPFCpedia. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  3. ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places
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