Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who was most recently (until 31 December 2024) assistant head coach for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club Plymouth Argyle. Born in Nelson,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, he spent most of his playing career at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Norwich City and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, with a short spell at West Bromwich Albion before retirement. While he was with Manchester United he also earned a single cap for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 2006, Norwich fans voted Phelan into the club's

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

. Following the end of his playing career, Phelan moved into management. He first took a position as Gary Megson's assistant at his former club, Norwich City, before following Megson to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and then Stockport County. After Megson left Stockport, Phelan was hired by another former club, Manchester United, taking over as the assistant manager of the club's reserve team. Two years later, he was promoted to become

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

's chief first-team coach, and in 2008 he replaced Carlos Queiroz as Ferguson's assistant manager. He remained in the position until Ferguson's retirement in 2013, when Ferguson's successor David Moyes replaced the entire coaching staff. After a year out of football, Phelan was appointed as first-team coach back at Norwich City in November 2014 and took temporary charge of the club when manager Neil Adams resigned in January 2015, only to be relieved of his duties by Adams' permanent replacement, Alex Neil. A month later, he was appointed as assistant manager at Hull City under former Manchester United teammate Steve Bruce. He was promoted to first team management following the departure of Bruce on a temporary basis before the 2016–17 season. This was made permanent on 13 October. He was sacked from his position with Hull on 3 January 2017 with the club 20th in the Premier League.

Playing career

Phelan began his career at

, signing as an associated schoolboy in July 1979, as an apprentice two years later and as a professional in July 1980. He made his league debut in January 1981 against Chesterfield and whilst at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

, gained England Youth caps and a Third Division champions medal in 1982. But in 1985, Burnley were relegated to the Fourth Division, and Phelan moved to Norwich City for £60,000 on 13 July 1985. Norwich won the Second Division title in his first season at the club. He became club captain when Steve Bruce joined

in December 1987, captaining them to fourth place in the First Division and a place in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-finals in his first full season as captain. He was called into the England squad for the Rous Cup games against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

but did not play due to a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury. His success drew the attention of larger clubs and he followed Steve Bruce to

for £750,000 on 1 July 1989. While at United, he won his first international cap (against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1989) and an FA Cup winner's medal in his first season. This was followed by the FA Charity Shield in 1990, European Cup Winners' Cup in 1991 and the League Cup in 1992. Phelan was often deployed at right-back during his first season at Manchester United, but following the arrival of Denis Irwin in 1990 he mostly played on the right or in the centre of midfield. He had played on the right side of midfield before Irwin's arrival, most notably in the FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace in 1990, when Paul Ince was switched from central midfield to right-back. By 1993, however, his appearances were becoming increasingly limited due to growing competition from younger players like Andrei Kanchelskis, Paul Ince, Ryan Giggs and Lee Sharpe. He did make enough league appearances to collect a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

title medal for the 1992–93 season, but rarely played in the 1993–94 season, failing to make enough appearances for another league title medal, and not being in the squad for the

triumph over Chelsea. With the introduction of Premier League squad numbers for the 1993–94 season, he was issued with the number 23 shirt which was next worn by Phil Neville. Phelan was given a free transfer at the end of the 1993–94 season. After leaving Old Trafford, Phelan signed for West Bromwich Albion, where he spent 18 months and played just 21 games, his first-team chances limited by younger players such as Kevin Donovan and Lee Ashcroft, who were more favoured by new manager Alan Buckley (appointed in the autumn following the dismissal of Keith Burkinshaw, who brought Phelan to the club).

Coaching career

He returned to

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

in December 1995, as an assistant manager to Gary Megson (another former Norwich player) and managed the club's reserve team. When Megson was fired and joined

, Phelan followed him to take a similar role, returning to his native North-West. A year later, he followed Megson to Stockport County. Following Megson's sacking as Stockport County boss on 25 June 1999, Andy Kilner took over as manager. Phelan moved on shortly afterwards, taking up a role at Manchester United's Centre of Excellence. Following Steve McClaren's departure to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in the summer of 2001, Phelan was promoted to first-team coach. He was appointed assistant manager of United on 3 September 2008, replacing Carlos Queiroz who had left to manage the

Portugal national football team The Portugal national football team () has represented Portugal in men's international Association football, football competitions since 1921. The national team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the governing body for ...

. For many years, Phelan conducted interviews for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

programmes such as ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

,'' due to United manager

refusing to speak with the BBC following corruption allegations made in 2004 by the BBC's ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' programme towards one of Ferguson's sons, football agent Jason Ferguson. Ferguson finally agreed to BBC interviews once more in August 2011. In January 2010, Phelan was linked with a return to his first club

as manager following the departure of Owen Coyle to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He was Ferguson's right-hand man for three Premier League titles, a FIFA Club World Cup, two League Cups, and two runs to the final of the UEFA Champions League. He departed the club shortly after Ferguson's retirement. On 20 November 2014, Phelan was announced as a first-team coach at Norwich City. Following the resignation of Neil Adams on 5 January 2015, Phelan was named caretaker manager of Norwich. On 9 January, Norwich appointed Hamilton Academical manager Alex Neil, and Phelan returned to his first-team coaching duties. On 20 January, Phelan left the club by mutual consent. On 5 February, Phelan was named assistant manager at Hull City. On 22 July 2016, following the resignation of Steve Bruce, the club confirmed that Phelan would act as caretaker manager. He was named

Premier League Manager of the Month The Premier League Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League manager each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to ...

for August, after victories over Leicester City and Swansea City, and a narrow defeat to

. On 13 October, Phelan was appointed first-team manager on a permanent basis. On 3 January 2017, Hull City's vice-chairman Ehab Allam released a statement stating that the club and Phelan had parted company for a "fresh approach". On 16 July 2018, Phelan was appointed sporting director at Central Coast Mariners; a mostly ambassadorial position. Less than six months later on 19 December, Phelan was appointed as a first-team coach for Manchester United's caretaker manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. On 10 May, he was appointed as United's assistant manager for the second time. In December 2021, following Solskjær's departure as Manchester United manager, his interim replacement Ralf Rangnick confirmed that Phelan would remain as one of the club's first-team coaches, though he was not involved in training sessions. On 8 December 2024, Phelan moved to be assistant head coach at Plymouth Argyle only to leave on 31 December 2024, following the departure of manager Wayne Rooney.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Burnley *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: 1981–82 Norwich City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1985–86 Manchester United *

: 1992–93 *

: 1989–90 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1991–92 * FA Charity Shield: 1990 (shared) * European Cup Winners Cup: 1990–91

Manager

Individual *

: August 2016

References

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Mike 1962 births Living people Footballers from Nelson, Lancashire English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Burnley F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English football managers Norwich City F.C. managers Hull City A.F.C. managers Premier League managers Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff