Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has become the first English manager in 17 years to lift a major trophy following Newcastle's Carabao Cup victory against Liverpool last night.

Soumit BhattacharyaMarch 17, 2025 at 10:55 AM β€’ 5 min read
Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has become the first English manager in 17 years to lift a major trophy following Newcastle's Carabao Cup victory against Liverpool last night.

Eddie Howe has become the first English manager to lift a major trophy in men's football since the year 2008.

The 47-year-old manager has paved Newcastle United’s way to a major domestic trophy, as the Magpies salvaged a deserved 2-1 victory against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final last night.

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) March 16, 2025

The Newcastle United manager has touched the silverware to be only the first English manager to lift a major trophy in Men’s football since Harry Redknapp led Portsmouth to win the FA Cup in 2008.

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 16, 2025

After 17 years, the drought has finally been broken by Eddie, who expressed that he will “certainly won’t” forget this, stating the fact that Newcastle has won a major domestic trophy in 70 years.

With such a long wait for a trophy, this will be a day that I’m sure everyone will never forget,

In this article, we discuss the last English managers to lift each of the major honours available in men’s football, before Eddie Howe lifted the Carabao Cup last night.

Harry Redknapp – FA Cup

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
(Image Credit | Mark Aspland)

Harry Redknapp was the last English manager to win one of the major domestic men's football titles when he led Portsmouth to FA Cup victory in 2008.

The team's triumph was secured by Nigeria striker Nwankwo Kanu, who scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Cardiff City in the Final. 

Steve McClaren – League Cup

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
(Image Source | The Northern Echo)

Steve McClaren led Middlesbrough to the first major trophy in the club’s history when they defeated Bolton Wanderers to win the 2004 EFL Cup, which was known as the Carling Cup at the time.

Joseph-Desire Job scored an early goal, and Bolo Zenden converted a penalty, putting Middlesbrough ahead 2-0 within the first seven minutes at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Although Kevin Davies managed to pull one back for the Sam Allardyce-coached Bolton side, the Teessiders held on to secure the victory.

Howard Wilkinson – First Division

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
(Image Credit | Leeds on X)

No English manager has won the Premier League title; however, Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson achieved this remarkable feat 13 times. The last English manager to lead a championship-winning team was Howard Wilkinson, who did so in the final season of the old First Division. 

Wilkinson’s Leeds United secured the title by defeating Sheffield United 3-2 on the penultimate weekend of the 1991-92 season. Meanwhile, Manchester United, managed by Ferguson at that time, lost 2-0 to Liverpool. Ultimately, Leeds topped the table, finishing four points ahead of Manchester United.

Sir Bobby Robson – Cup Winners’ Cup

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
(Image Credit | The Irish Mirror)

Although domestic success has been limited for English managers, achieving glory in European competitions has been even more challenging.

The last major European triumph for an Englishman came under the guidance of the legendary Sir Bobby Robson, who led FC Barcelona to victory in the UEFA European Cup Winners' Cup in 1997. Ronaldo secured the win with a penalty, resulting in a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

Joe Fagan – European Cup

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
(Image Credit | Liverpool)

Although no manager has yet won the Champions League, Joe Fagan is the most recent winner of the tournament's predecessor, the European Cup in 1984.

Fagan succeeded Bob Paisley as the manager of Liverpool during the summer of 1983. He watched from the sidelines as Alan Kennedy scored the decisive penalty in a shootout victory against AS Roma in the Italian capital, marking Liverpool's fourth triumph in the European Cup in seven years.

Keith Burkinshaw – UEFA Cup

Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win a major trophy since 2008-sportzpoint.com
Keith Burkinshaw (right) holds the UEFA Cup with coach Peter Shreeves. (Image Credit | Daily Mail)

Manager Keith Burkinshaw secured the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of the Europa League, with Tottenham in the 1984 season.

Tottenham had drawn 1-1 against Anderlecht in the first leg in Brussels. In the return leg, captain Graham Roberts scored a late equalizer to end the match 2-2 after extra time.

The Spurs went on to win the trophy by securing a 4-3 victory in the shootout, as Goalkeeper Tony Parks saved a penalty from Anderlecht's Arnor Gudjohnsen.

Soumit Bhattacharya

Soumit Bhattacharya's path to football content writing has been a natural progression of his innate love for sports, especially for football. Being a dedicated football enthusiast since childhood, he is well-versed and has a profound passion for the beautiful game, sharing readers a vast knowledge base through insighful narratives.

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