Roy Hodgson: The highs and lows of 45 years in management
Roy Hodgson will step down as Crystal Palace manager after their final game of the Premier League season.
The ex-England boss, whose last match in charge will be away to former club Liverpool, has spent almost 50 years in management having started his career back in 1976.
Here's a look at the highs and lows of the 73-year-old’s career in football.
HIGH – It all started in Scandinavia for the Croydon native and he spent the best part of 15 years as a manager in Sweden. After he guided Halmstad to not one but two unexpected Allsvenskan titles, he repeated the feat five times during a trophy-laden spell with Malmo.
HIGH – Hodgson accepted his first national team role in 1992 and helped Switzerland qualify for a first major tournament in 26 years when they reached the 1994 World Cup. It meant he was one of the few Englishmen at the tournament after England’s own qualification failure. He also guided the Swiss to their maiden European Championship in 1996, leaving his post after an impressive qualifying campaign.
LOW – The Londoner made a return to club management with Inter Milan in 1995, but his time in Italy ended on a sour note when they lost the UEFA Cup final on home turf to Schalke in 1997. While he maintained a strong relationship with club president Massimo Moratti for his rebuilding job at San Siro, subsequent criticism from Roberto Carlos was scathing.
LOW – A first taste of Premier League football proved short-lived when Hodgson was sacked by Blackburn after 17 months at Ewood Park. A brilliant start to his first campaign was overshadowed by a poor finish and it spilled into the next season, which resulted in his departure with Rovers bottom of the table.
HIGH – It was a return to familiar shores which helped rebuild the reputation of the one-time Crystal Palace trainee. Denmark was his residence at the start of the 21st century and more league success followed at Copenhagen, who won a first Superliga title in seven years under the Englishman.
HIGH – After spells in Italy, UAE, Norway and Finland, Hodgson was tempted to return to Britain at the end of 2007 to save relegation-threatened Fulham. And once a great escape had been masterminded, he built on that to guide the Cottagers to a memorable Europa League campaign. Shakhtar Donetsk and Juventus were defeated before Atletico Madrid proved too strong in the 2010 final.
LOW – Craven Cottage was swapped for Anfield in the summer of 2010 and after being hired over club great Kenny Dalglish, the jet-setter was quickly jettisoned from Liverpool. A surprise League Cup loss to fourth-tier Northampton put the writing on the wall in September and a brief Christmas revival could not stop the inevitable with another top-flight defeat, this time at old club Blackburn, the final nail in his coffin in January 2011.
HIGH – One of Hodgson’s proudest moments in football happened in October 2013 when a 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley secured England’s place at the 2014 World Cup. An unbeaten qualification campaign coupled with a respectable quarter-final appearance two years earlier at the Euros contributed towards a fine start to life as the Three Lions chief.
LOW – England did not follow the ‘joga bonito’ mantra in Brazil and exited at the World Cup group stage for the first time since 1958 following defeats to Italy and Uruguay. It meant their final clash with Costa Rica was a dead-rubber and a dull goalless draw did little to lift spirits in the country.
LOW – After a 100 per cent qualifying record and the introduction of several young talents like Harry Kane, optimism was high before Euro 2016, but England suffered embarrassment to end the reign of Hodgson in abysmal fashion. Iceland knocked England out in the round of 16 with a 2-1 win in France which shocked the nation and saw the experienced manager condemned in the aftermath.