By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Roy
Hodgson was appointed England manager on a four-year contract on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over who would lead
the national team to next month’s European Championship.
The experienced 64-year-old, who has been in charge of Premier League West
Bromwich Albion since February last year, became the 13th permanent post-War England manager after succeeding Italian Fabio
Capello.
“This is a very proud day for me, I’m a very happy man to be offered the chance to manage my country and
I’m looking forward to the task ahead,” Englishman Hodgson, who the FA said was the unanimous choice of the board, said at a
news conference at Wembley.
“Everyone knows it’s not an easy one but I’m hoping everyone, the fans and supporters
get behind the team.
“It’s the team that counts and I will do my very best to make sure they are prepared as well as
possible for the tasks that lay ahead.”
Capello left his role as England manager in February, four years after taking
over from Steve McClaren, despite a successful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
Since then Stuart Pearce, the under-21s
coach, had been in temporary charge with Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp the hot favourite to be offered the
job.
FA chairman David Bernstein refused to talk about why Redknapp was overlooked, preferring to trumpet the
credentials of Hodgson.
“After putting together a shortlist Roy emerged as the standout candidate,” Bernstein
said.
“We met at Wembley yesterday and we quickly agreed that Roy was the right man to guide us to the European
Championship and future tournaments.
“I want to make it quite clear we were unanimous in choosing Roy,” Bernstein
added. “He is a manager of a vast experience of international and European football, in fact this is the first time the FA
has appointed a manager with any previous international experience and this will I’m be a great benefit to him in making the
adjustment from club management.
COMMAND RESPECT
“Roy has outstanding contacts and could walk into any training
ground across the world and command respect.”
West Brom confirmed on their website that Hodgson, who replaced now
Chelsea caretaker coach Roberto Di Matteo last year, would remain in charge for the final two games of the season, away to
Bolton Wanderers and home to Arsenal.
“Roy’s appointment as England Manager is obviously disappointing news for the
club as we would have liked him to sign a new contract, which was in the process of negotiation, and remain as our head
coach,” West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace said in a statement.
“But we understand Roy’s desire to take the England job
and he will leave us after the Arsenal game on May 13 with our best wishes. We are delighted he will be see the season out
with us.”
After a non-descript playing career spent partly in English non-league football, Hodgson embarked on a near
40-year coaching career in Sweden with Halmstad in 1976 and has since become one of the world’s most respected
coaches.
Plying his trade in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, England and Denmark he has won eight league titles and
coached the national sides of Finland, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates.
Hodgson’s best moments in international
football came in guiding Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup finals and the 1996 European Championship.
His varied club
career included two stints at Inter Milan, Blackburn Rovers, FC Copenhagen and Fulham, who he took to the Europa League final
in 2010 — the first European final in their history. However, his biggest club job in England ended in disappointment when
he left Liverpool by mutual consent in January, 2011 after just 31 games in charge.
Despite a disappointing stay at
Anfield, where he never won over the fans, Hodgson restored his reputation at West Brom, guiding the Midlands club to safety
last season and to mid-table respectability this season.
With the European championships, where England will face
France, Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine, starting in little more than a month, Hodgson faces a hectic schedule, including
selecting his squad and preparing for a June 2 friendly against Belgium at Wembley.
“It’s going to be difficult of
course but I have some time on my hands to think about it and make the decisions that are necessary,” Hodgson
said.
“I’ve worked in the Premier league for the last five years so the players are pretty well known to me, I’ve
worked with many of them, and I will do as much research as I can between now and the end of the season.”