Calum McFarlane
Personal information
Full name Calum McFarlane
Date of birth (1985-11-13) 13 November 1985 (age 40)[1]
Place of birth England
Team information
Current team
Chelsea (interim head coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
2023–2025 Southampton U18
2025 Southampton U21
2025–2026 Chelsea U21
2026 Chelsea (caretaker)
2026– Chelsea (interim)

Calum McFarlane (born 13 November 1985) is an English professional football manager who is the interim head coach of Premier League club Chelsea.

Prior to his time at Chelsea, McFarlane held assistant manager positions at non-league sides Croydon and Whyteleafe as well as youth team positions at Manchester City and Southampton.

McFarlane is believed to have descended from Scots.

Managerial career

Croydon

McFarlane was assistant manager of non-league side Croydon.

Whyteleafe

In 2018, Croydon first team head coach Harry Hudson departed for Whyteleafe, taking McFarlane with him.[2]

Manchester City

In 2020, Whyteleafe announced that McFarlane would be departing for Manchester City.[3] He served an assistant role in the Manchester City Academy until 2023.[4]

Southampton

McFarlane left City to join the Southampton Academy, leading the Under-18s until 2025. In February 2025, he became head coach of the club's Under-21s.[5][6]

Chelsea

McFarlane departed Southampton in July 2025 when he became the coach of Chelsea's Under-21s, while also leading the Under-19s during their 2025–26 UEFA Youth League campaign.[7][4]

On 2 January 2026, a day after first team manager Enzo Maresca left Chelsea by mutual consent,[8] McFarlane became the interim manager of the club ahead of their Premier League fixture against Manchester City, resulting in a 1–1 draw.[9][10][11] On 6 January, Chelsea named Liam Rosenior as their full-time manager.[12] However, McFarlane remained in charge of Chelsea's league match against Fulham.[13]

On 8 January 2026, it was announced that McFarlane would join the backroom staff of new head coach Liam Rosenior.[14] When Rosenior was sacked on 22 April 2026, McFarlane was once again promoted to interim head coach until the end of the season.[15]

Managerial statistics

As of 8 January 2026
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Chelsea (caretaker) 1 January 2026 8 January 2026 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 000.00 [16]
Chelsea (interim) 22 April 2026 Present 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Career Total 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 000.00

References

  1. ^ Calum McFarlane at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Croydon FC rocked as Whyteleafe poach manager Hudson". Inside Croydon. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  3. ^ "The Pride of East Surrey". Whyteleafe Football Club. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b Laurens, Julien; Olley, James (2 January 2026). "Who is Calum McFarlane? What is Chelsea caretaker manager's link to Man City?". ESPN.com. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Tonda Eckert appointed Under-21s Head Coach". Southampton FC Official Site. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  6. ^ O'Connor, Robert (2 January 2026). "Calum McFarlane had to disappoint his family to take Chelsea interim role". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Calum McFarlane". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  8. ^ Kinsella, Nizaar (1 January 2026). "Enzo Maresca: Chelsea manager leaves with Blues fifth in Premier League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Chelsea's Calum McFarlane ready to step up for Manchester City showdown". Sky Sports. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  10. ^ Smith, Dom (2 January 2026). "Chelsea: Calum McFarlane insists Blues have 'everything we need' to beat Man City despite manager chaos". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  11. ^ Mackey, Ed (1 January 2026). "Enzo Fernandez snatches late draw for Chelsea away to Manchester City: Live updates and reaction". New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  12. ^ Salley, Emily (6 January 2026). "Chelsea: Liam Rosenior appointed as manager until 2032". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  13. ^ "Calum McFarlane confirms coaching plan against Fulham". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  14. ^ "Liam Rosenior's Chelsea backroom staff confirmed". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  15. ^ Farrell, Dom (22 April 2026). "BREAKING NEWS: Chelsea sack head coach Liam Rosenior, Calum McFarlane appointed until end of season". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on 22 April 2026. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  16. ^ Calum McFarlane management career statistics at Soccerbase