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Pep Guardiola is set to be inducted into the League Managers’ Association 1000 club when he hits a major milestone this weekend.
Manchester City face rivals Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, marking Guardiola’s 1000th match in coaching – a career spanning 18 years and four teams.
The most influential coach of his generation, Guardiola has won 37 major trophies – plus three Community Shield titles – with Barcelona B, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.
The LMA will recognise the achievement by etching the 54-year-old’s name into their hall of fame, with Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway the most recent addition last season.
Guardiola is to be the only the 39th post-war manager to receive the accolade, following in the footsteps of Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Matt Busby.
Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Mick McCarthy, David Moyes and Holloway all attended the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London last May to be formally honoured as members of the exclusive 1000 club.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola is set to be honoured by the League Managers' Association
Three elder statesmen often mentioned by Guardiola – Neil Warnock, Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis – also passed the milestone during their careers.
Professional first-team matches in either the UK or overseas are recognised by the LMA.
There was debate about whether to count Guardiola’s season with Barcelona’s B team, consisting of 42 games after which he clinched promotion to Spain’s third tier.
A number of high-profile English bosses, including Mansfield Town’s Nigel Clough, have not had any non-league matches included in their tallies.
Guardiola’s latest meeting with Liverpool will be his 550th as manager of City, racking up 247 at the Nou Camp and 161 with Bayern.
