John Mousinho has become the Championship’s longest-serving manager following Michael Carrick’s departure from Middlesbrough, despite Portsmouth’s relegation struggles that would have cost him his job elsewhere.
The Portsmouth head coach now stands as the sole remaining manager from the 2024-25 Championship starting lineup, with an extraordinary 23 managerial departures occurring across the division since August 2024.
Mousinho’s survival represents a remarkable achievement in modern football’s increasingly ruthless environment, where only 19 other managers across the Premier League and Football League have enjoyed longer tenures at their respective clubs than his two years, four months and 17-day spell at Fratton Park.
Championship’s managerial carnage
The scale of managerial turnover has been staggering, with 18 of the 24 Championship clubs having parted company with at least one manager or head coach since the season began. Multiple clubs including Hull City, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle and West Bromwich Albion have each changed managers twice during this period.
Only the three promoted sides – Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland – alongside Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth have maintained stability with their original appointments.
Carrick’s dismissal yesterday came after Middlesbrough’s failure to secure a top-six finish in the final two campaigns of his three-year tenure, despite Portsmouth taking four points off them this season as Boro finished a disappointing 10th1.
From Oxford player-coach to Pompey survival
Mousinho’s journey to becoming the Championship’s most enduring manager began in January 2023 when he surprisingly replaced Danny Cowley at Portsmouth. The then 36-year-old had been combining playing duties with set-piece coaching at Oxford United before retiring to take his first senior managerial position.
Inheriting a Portsmouth side sitting 15th in League One, Mousinho guided them to eighth place before delivering the League One title in his first full season, ending the club’s 12-year absence from the Championship.
This campaign proved far more challenging, with Portsmouth winning just one of their opening 15 matches and finding themselves bottom of the table in December. However, Mousinho remarkably steered his side to safety with two games remaining, whilst Plymouth, Luton and Cardiff suffered relegation.
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Acknowledging Portsmouth’s loyalty
Speaking after securing Championship survival against Watford in April, Mousinho openly acknowledged that most other clubs would have dismissed him during Portsmouth’s darkest moments.
“Fair play to Pompey, there are definitely times when we have sat and thought that, had it been any other football club, that’s going to be it,” he reflected.
The manager praised both the club’s loyalty and the supporters’ unwavering backing despite the team’s struggles. “An interesting thing, though, is the fans have never turned and that has been a reflection of them knowing what we are trying to achieve, they understand the circumstances,” he added.
Mousinho emphasised Portsmouth’s commitment to long-term planning, contrasting it with the short-termism prevalent elsewhere. “There has been a huge amount of loyalty from the football club to myself, they have stuck by everything we said in that first press conference back in January 2023. Not many clubs do that,” he noted.
Elite company
Among Football League managers with longer tenures than Mousinho are Harrogate Town’s Simon Weaver (16 years), Mansfield Town’s Nigel Clough (four-and-a-half years), Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson (three-and-a-half years) and former Portsmouth manager Paul Cook, now at Chesterfield (three years).
In the Premier League, only Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Thomas Frank (Brentford), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Marco Silva (Fulham), Eddie Howe (Newcastle) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa) have been in their positions longer than the Portsmouth boss.
With Portsmouth supporters firmly behind their manager and the club demonstrating remarkable patience during difficult periods, Mousinho appears set for a lengthy stay at Fratton Park as he continues building for the future.
