Ian Cathro leaves Estoril for St. Étienne | OneFootball

Ian Cathro departs from Estoril Praia having left a good impression at the Lisbon coast club

After two successful years at Estoril Praia, Scottish coach Ian Cathro has left the Lisbon coast and heads to France where he takes the reins at historical team St. Étienne.

With two years still remaining on his contract, Estoril have received an undisclosed fee from the French club for his services.

Cathro has been a unique, colourful and popular character in the Portuguese game over the past two years.

Perfect Portuguese

With an impeccable command of Portuguese thanks to his many years working alongside Nuno Espírito Santo and his coaching team, first at Rio Ave then at multiple clubs abroad, Cathro was often outspoken and always entertaining in his press conferences and dealings with the media.

He leaves the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota after having guided Estoril to 8th and 10th-place finishes. Both seasons followed a similar pattern with a rocky start followed by an impressive resurgence over the course of the season.

Glorious run and goals galore

In 2024/25 Estoril achieved their best run of results in the Primeira Liga since the 1948/49 season. Between December and February the Canaries put together five consecutive wins during an 8-match unbeaten sequence.

Cathro’s Estoril were an extremely attacking team, scoring 105 goals in all competitions over the two years. Both in 2024/25 and 2025/26, only Portugal’s four strongest teams – Sporting, Porto, Benfica and Braga – scored more goals than Estoril in the Primeira Liga.

However, the offensive ethos came at a price with Estoril conceding goals freely, making for plenty of high-scoring matches.

Ian Cathro was awarded the Manager of the Month trophy twice, both seasons in January.

“Estoril Praia wishes Ian Cathro the best of luck, both personally and in sporting terms. Thank you Ian,” reads a message on the official Estoril Praia club website.

New challenge

Currently in Ligue 2, St. Étienne have won the French championship 10 times and reached the final of the European Cup in 1976, but have been out of the limelight for decades. Last season they narrowly missed out on promotion back to the top flight.