During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his professional debut in 1990 and representing Chesterfield – whom he captained and scored for in an FA Cup semi-final. Other teams he has played for include Bristol City, Luton Town, Millwall, Watford and Northampton Town. He was promoted with three of his six clubs. After retiring as a player in 2007, he coached at Watford, including a stint as manager between June 2011 and July 2012.
After leaving Watford, Dyche signed for Burnley in October 2012. Dyche guided the club to two promotions to the Premier League, in 2013–14 and 2015–16. During the 2017–18 season, he led Burnley to their first European campaign since 1967, following a seventh-place league finish. Dyche became the longest-serving manager in the Premier League at the end of the 2019–20 season. He was dismissed by Burnley in April 2022, when the club was in the relegation zone; the dismissal was widely criticised. Dyche joined Everton in January 2023.
Playing career
Dyche was a youth-team player at Nottingham Forest in the late 1980s, while Brian Clough was manager. When he joined Forest he was 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and weighed 10 stone but grew to 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) and 12 stone after a year. He broke his leg early in his career, which Dyche claims held him back. It also left him with a permanent bend in his leg.[4] Dyche was present at the Hillsborough disaster, having travelled to the stadium as part of the Forest youth side.[5]
He left Forest in early 1990 without making a first-team appearance, and signed for Chesterfield, where he later became captain. Dyche was part of the team that reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1997. In the FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough, he scored a penalty to put his side 2–0 up in an eventual 3–3 draw. Chesterfield lost the replay 3–0.[6]
Dyche left Chesterfield for Bristol City in 1997, helping them win promotion to Division One in his first season. City were relegated the following season, during which Dyche spent time on loan at Luton Town. He moved to Millwall at the end of the campaign, where he won promotion to Division One in 2001 and came close to a Premier League place the following year, losing to eventual promotion winners Birmingham City in the play-offs. In 2002, he began a three-year spell at Watford where he was captain in his final season with the club.
Dyche signed for Northampton Town in 2005,[7] and was involved in their 2005–06 promotion from League Two. He fell out of favour after the appointment of Stuart Gray as manager and was released at the end of the 2006–07 season.[8]
Managerial career
Watford
Having retired, following his release from Northampton, Dyche re-joined Watford as under-18s coach in 2007,[9] and was promoted to assistant manager in July 2009 when Malky Mackay was appointed Watford manager.[10] Mackay left to join Cardiff City in June 2011, and Dyche was promoted to manager.[11] Watford finished the 2011–12 season in eleventh place in the Football League Championship, the club's best finish for four years, but a change in club ownership led to his dismissal at the end of the season.[12]
Dyche joined the England national under-21 football team as a temporary member of the backroom staff in September 2012,[13] but the following month became manager of Burnley, succeeding Eddie Howe, who had left the club to rejoin Bournemouth.[14] Before the start of the 2013–14 campaign, Burnley were tipped as relegation candidates by the bookies; Dyche had to work with a tight budget and a small squad, and Burnley's top goal scorer from the previous season, Charlie Austin, had moved to Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers. In Dyche's first full season in charge, however, Burnley finished second and were promoted back to the Premier League. The new strike partnership of Danny Ings and Sam Vokes had 41 league goals between them.[15] Dyche used only 23 players during the season, which was the joint-lowest in the division, and had paid only one transfer fee—£400,000 for striker Ashley Barnes.[16] Burnley's spell in the top flight lasted only a single season, as they were relegated with two games to spare.[17] The following season, Burnley won the Championship title when they equalled their 2013–14 tally of 93 points and ended the season with a run of 23 undefeated league games.[18]
Burnley finished the 2016–17 season in 16th place, six points above the relegation zone, and were guaranteed to play consecutive seasons in the top flight for the first time in the Premier League era.[19] During 2017, the club's new Barnfield Training Centre was completed and replaced the 60-year-old Gawthorpe. Dyche was involved in the design and had willingly tailored his transfer spending as he and the board focused on the club's infrastructure and future.[20][21] In January 2018, Dyche signed a new contract with Burnley to remain as manager until the summer of 2022.[22] He had guided Burnley to seventh place in the Premier League at the time of signing his contract. The season ended with UEFA Europa League qualification for the first time for over half a century, securing their best finish to a top flight season since a sixth-placed finish in 1973–74.[23] Following qualification for European football, "The Princess Royal" pub in Burnley was renamed "The Royal Dyche" in honour of him.[24] Burnley were eliminated in the play-off round by Greek side Olympiacos after the side had defeated Scottish club Aberdeen and Turkish team İstanbul Başakşehir in the previous qualifying rounds.[25]
The 2019–20 season was interrupted for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic before being completed behind closed doors;[26] Burnley concluded the campaign in 10th place, five points below the European qualification places.[27][28] On 15 April 2022, Dyche was dismissed by Burnley after being with the club for nine and a half years. At the time of his dismissal, the club was in the relegation zone, four points behind Everton with eight games remaining.[29] The decision to dismiss Dyche by the club's owners was widely criticised, with BBC writer Phil McNulty describing it as "blind panic" in their attempt to retain their Premier League status by appointing a new manager.[30]Mike Jackson succeeded Dyche as caretaker manager for the rest of the season, with Burnley relegated after finishing in 18th on the final day of the season.[31]
Everton
On 30 January 2023, Dyche was appointed manager of Premier League club Everton on a two-and-a-half-year contract, replacing Frank Lampard.[32] In his first game in charge, Everton defeated then league leaders Arsenal 1–0.[33]
Results under Dyche were generally mixed. Dyche took his team into the final day of the season on 28 May 2023, with Everton holding a two-point lead in 17th over fellow relegation rivals Leicester City and Leeds United. Everton went on to win their final match 1–0 against Bournemouth, which successfully retained their Premier League status.[34] However, Everton were deducted 10 points the following season for breaching FFP for the three-year period to 2021–22. This points deduction was later reduced to six points. Despite this, the club managed to avoid relegation with the team finishing in 15th position.
On 24 April 2024, he led his team to beat Liverpool 2–0 in the Merseyside Derby with goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. This was Everton's first home win at Goodison Park against Liverpool since 2010.[35]
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