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Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until he was signed by Reading at the age of 18, although a genetic knee condition forced him to retire at age 20. He remained at Reading as a coach and then academy director, and continued to play non-league football at Newport IOW, Witney Town and Newbury Town for several years. After a period travelling around Spain to study coaching methods, he was invited by José Mourinho to join Chelsea as youth manager in 2004, later being promoted to reserve manager in 2006.
In 2008, he was appointed manager of Watford, where he remained until he accepted an offer to become manager of his former club Reading in 2009. He left the club by mutual consent after some disappointing results six months later. He returned to management with Swansea City in 2010, leading the club to promotion to the Premier League, the first Welsh team to do so, before guiding them to finish 11th the following season. On 1 June 2012, Rodgers became the new manager of Liverpool, whom he led to runners-up position in the league in the 2013–14 season before his dismissal in October 2015.
Rodgers became manager of Celtic in May 2016 and led them to an undefeated domestic season in his first year, and trebles in both of his first two seasons. He left Celtic for Leicester City in February 2019, winning the 2021 FA Cup in his second full season, before he left by mutual consent in April 2023. He returned to Celtic in June 2023 and won two further Scottish league titles in his first two seasons back at the club, before resigning in October 2025.
Rodgers was brought up a Catholic. He attended St John's Catholic Primary School in Carnlough, and then moved on to St Patrick's College, Ballymena until the age of 16.Brendan Rodgers, The Road To Paradise The Official Autobiography, p. 10. His mother died in 2010 at the age of 53, and in September 2011 Rodgers was by his father's side when he died of cancer, aged 59.
On 16 May 2011, Rodgers led Swansea to the 2011 Championship Play-Off final as the favourites after defeating underdogs Nottingham Forest over two legs in the semi-final. He faced his old club Reading in the final at Wembley Stadium on 30 May 2011, which Swansea won 4–2 thanks in part to a hat-trick from Scott Sinclair, meaning Swansea became the first Welsh team ever to gain promotion to the Premier League. Rodgers was praised by the media and supporters for consoling Reading manager Brian McDermott and owner John Madejski before receiving the trophy.
Rodgers' first win as a Premier League manager came on 17 September 2011, when Swansea defeated West Bromwich Albion 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium. Despite many predicting before the season began that Swansea were favourites to be relegated, their debut season proved very impressive, as they picked up points against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, keeping them well above the relegation zone. In January 2012, Swansea claimed their first away win of the season at Aston Villa, a month which also saw them defeat Arsenal 3–2 at home and hold Chelsea to a 1–1 draw. This saw Rodgers earn his first Premier League Manager of the Month award. In February, Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015.
On 2 August 2012, Rodgers oversaw his first competitive game as Liverpool manager, a 1–0 win in the UEFA Europa League against Belarusian club FC Gomel, and won his first home game in charge in the second leg one week later. In his first league game as manager on 18 August, Liverpool lost 3–0 against West Brom at The Hawthorns. His first win in the league came against Norwich City at Carrow Road, Liverpool winning 5–2. On 31 October, Rodgers welcomed his former club Swansea to Anfield in the fourth round of the League Cup, a match Liverpool lost 3–1. On 6 December, Liverpool defeated Udinese Calcio 1–0 away in the Europa League to qualify for the round of 32 as group winners.
On 27 January 2013, Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round, surprisingly losing 3–2 to League One team Oldham Athletic. Liverpool finished in seventh position in the Premier League in his first season in charge, one position higher than the previous season.
A run of 11-straight wins for Liverpool left them five points clear at the top of the Premier League with just three matches to play. However, they then suffered a 2–0 home defeat to Chelsea on 27 April. This result handed the advantage to Manchester City in the title race. In their next game away to Crystal Palace on 5 May, Liverpool led 3–0 with 11 minutes to go, but the game finished 3–3. Liverpool ended the season as Premier League runners-up, two points behind champions Manchester City.
Liverpool scored 101 league goals in the season, the club's most since the 1895–96 season and the third-highest in Premier League history. Later that month, Rodgers was named the LMA Manager of the Year, becoming the first Liverpool manager to win the accolade in its 20-year history. On 26 May 2014, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract at Liverpool.
Rodgers' signings for Liverpool included James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi and Mario Balotelli.
On 12 July, in his first competitive game in charge, Celtic lost 1–0 away to Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their second qualifying round of the 2016–17 Champions League. He said of the surprise result, "There is obvious disappointment. There is no embarrassment." Celtic overcame their one-goal deficit with a 3–0 win at Celtic Park. On 23 August 2016, Celtic qualified for the group stage of the 2016–17 Champions League for the first time in three years after a 5–4 aggregate victory over Hapoel Be'er Sheva. In the first game of the group stage, 13 September 2016, Rodgers suffered a 7–0 defeat against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou, this was Brendan Rodgers' heaviest defeat and the worst result for Celtic in European competition.
On 27 November 2016, Rodgers won his first trophy as a manager as Celtic defeated Aberdeen 3–0 in the final of the Scottish League Cup. The win also gave Celtic their 100th major trophy.
On 31 December 2016, Rodgers became the first manager in Celtic history to win his opening three games against Rangers. This victory meant Celtic went 19 points clear, with a game in hand, in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership table. It also secured Celtic their 5th consecutive league victory, 58 points from a possible 60, and stretched their unbeaten run in domestic football to 24 games.
On 2 April 2017, Celtic defeated Hearts 5–0 to secure the club's sixth consecutive league title, with eight games to spare. Five days later, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract with Celtic.
As Celtic's unbeaten domestic run continued, they subjected Rangers to their heaviest defeat at Ibrox since 1915, thrashing their rivals 5–1 on 29 April. Celtic's 2–0 win over Hearts on 21 May saw them finish 30 points ahead of second-placed Aberdeen in the league with a record 106 points, and the team become the first Scottish side to complete a top-flight season undefeated since 1899. On 27 May 2017, Celtic defeated Aberdeen 2–1 to win the Scottish Cup, securing a domestic treble for the fourth time in their history, and ending the 2016–17 season unbeaten in all domestic competitions.
On 29 April 2018, Rodgers secured his second and Celtic's seventh consecutive league title with a 5–0 win against Rangers at Celtic Park. This win also extended Celtic's unbeaten run against Rangers to 12 games. The season ended with Rodgers winning the first 'Double Treble' (a treble in two consecutive seasons) in Scottish football history with a 2–0 Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell on 19 May 2018.
On 15 May 2021, Rodgers led Leicester City to win the first FA Cup title in their history, after a 1–0 win over Chelsea in the final. The end of the season in the league saw a fierce battle between Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool for the remaining UEFA Champions League spots. Despite being in third place for most of the season, a 1–2 loss to Chelsea in the penultimate round saw Leicester drop to 5th place after Liverpool's 3–0 defeat of Burnley, with Leicester and Liverpool tied on points and Chelsea up in third via a solitary point. Despite Chelsea's 1–2 loss against Aston Villa giving them a chance to a fourth-place finish, Leicester could not take advantage due to a 2–4 loss to Tottenham Hotspur after maintaining a 2–1 lead until Kasper Schmeichel's own goal in the 76th minute, followed by two goals from Gareth Bale. Thus, Leicester once again finished fifth, qualifying for the Europa League.
Celtic began the 2023–24 season with a 4–2 win against Ross County in the opening fixture of the Scottish Premiership. Despite criticism after a League Cup exit to Kilmarnock and a goalless draw against St Johnstone, Celtic opened up an early lead in the Scottish Premiership helped by winning their first five away matches – something last achieved by Celtic in the 2017–18 season under Rodgers. In the Champions League, Celtic finished bottom of their group with four points, however they won their first home game in the competition since 2013 after beating Feyenoord 2–1.
In February 2024, Rodgers was criticised after calling the BBC journalist Jane Lewis "good girl" during an interview. The campaign group For Women Scotland said it was depressing that "casual sexism is still embedded in sport", although Lewis defended Rodgers, stating she did not believe there was any offence intended by the comment.
In March 2024, after criticising match officials (including John Beaton) following a 2–0 defeat at Heart of Midlothian, Rodgers was charged by the SFA. He said he would defend the charges, but received a one-match ban.
Celtic finished the 2023–24 season winning the Scottish Premiership title, eight points ahead of Rangers. Celtic also won the Scottish Cup.
In October 2024, after Celtic lost 7–1 against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Rodgers' tactics were criticised, but he defended them and his players. Celtic finished in 21st place in the Champions League group stage, and were knocked out by Bayern Munich in the play-off phase.
Celtic won the 2024–25 Scottish Premiership, finishing 17 points ahead of second-placed Rangers. The title was the club's 55th, bringing them level with Rangers for most in Scottish football. Celtic also won the League Cup. Celtic lost the 2025 Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen on penalties, falling short of a domestic treble.
In August 2025, Rodgers denied that there was a conflict between him and the Celtic board over transfer policy. That same month, Celtic failed to qualify for the Champions League, losing on penalties to FC Kairat.
On 27 October 2025, Rodgers resigned following a 3–1 loss to Heart of Midlothian, with Martin O'Neill appointed as his temporary replacement; Celtic were second in the Scottish Premiership when he resigned, but had lost two league matches in a row and were eight points behind the league-leading Hearts.
His Liverpool team during the 2013–14 season interchanged from 4–5–1 to 3–5–2 to 4–4–2 to 4–3–3 to a diamond formation. Steven Gerrard described Rodgers' one-on-one management as the best he had seen.
In June 2011, Rodgers joined a team representing the Football League to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care in honour of his mother – who died in 2010 – and his father – who died of cancer in 2011. In June 2014, he was awarded an Honorary degree Doctor of Science Honorary degree by the University of Ulster.
His nickname is "Buck Rogers".
In May 2020, Rodgers said that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19 in March the same year after showing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic – both of them made full recoveries. Rodgers likened his breathing difficulties to the altitude when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. The couple endured losses in smell, taste, and strength for three weeks before being tested positive.
| + Managerial record by team and tenure | |||
| Watford | 24 November 2008 | 5 June 2009 | Individual seasons accessed via drop-down list. |
| Reading | 5 June 2009 | 16 December 2009 | |
| Swansea City | 16 July 2010 | 1 June 2012 | |
| Liverpool | 1 June 2012 | 4 October 2015 | |
| Celtic | 20 May 2016 | 26 February 2019 | |
| Leicester City | 26 February 2019 | 2 April 2023 | Individual seasons accessed via drop-down list. |
| Celtic | 19 June 2023 | 27 October 2025 | |
| Al Qadsiah | 16 December 2025 | present | |
Celtic
Leicester City
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