Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, Salford City
Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley remain one of the most successful modern examples of joint management in English football. They arrived at Salford City in January 2015 after Phil Power had been sacked, with the club having slipped behind Darlington in the title race following a poor run.
The response was emphatic. Johnson and Morley won 15 of the remaining 17 league matches, hauled Salford back to the top and delivered the Northern Premier League Division One North title. Their first full campaign at Salford took the story beyond league football. The club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, beating Notts County 2-0 at Moor Lane in a televised tie that pushed Salford further into the national eye. They then drew with Hartlepool United in the second round before losing the replay after extra time.
Promotion followed again. In 2015/16, Salford finished third and won the play-offs, beating Ashton United in the semi-final before a 3-2 victory over Workington took them into National League North. Two years later, they won that division as champions, securing another promotion and reaching the National League.
There was always noise around Salford because of the Class of 92 ownership and the money behind the rise, but Johnson and Morley were not passengers in that story. They built winning sides, handled pressure, and kept moving the club forward at a pace that many better-funded clubs would envy.
Their departure in May 2018 came by mutual consent, with irreconcilable differences reported around performance and contract length. It was an oddly flat ending to a hugely productive spell, but it does not change the record.