Roy Hodgson: from an unknown player to a worthy coach

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

One of the most controversial figures in English football is former England coach Roy Hodgson. He was born on August 9, 1947 in London. In 2012, Hodgson was appointed to the post of head coach of the England team, but he did not manage to achieve anything special until 2016. After the European Championship 2016, which was held in France, Hodgson stepped down from his position.

Unsuccessful player career

Roy Hodgson was not a top level player. His career as a player could have turned out very differently if he could get into the first team of the Crystal Palace football club, but this did not happen, and Roy went to play in low-grade teams. Playing for weak clubs, he had no chance to make a name for himself in England. But he decided to become a coach, even though he had no connections and no name in world football. Nobody knew who Hodgson was. In such a situation, the best option was to travel abroad.

Coaching career

After working for some time as one of the assistant coaches at the Maidstone United football club, Roy Hodgson was able to get a certain base, which gave him the opportunity to find his ownfirst club in coaching career. The team where Roy started his coaching career is Halmstad, which was fighting for survival before the arrival of the Englishman. In four years, the club won the national championship twice, and in the 1977/78 season, the coach made his debut in European competition.

The coach became famous when he worked in Switzerland. For a long time, the Swiss national team could not get to the world championships. But then Roy Hodgson was appointed to the post of head coach. The 1994 World Cup was the first in the coach's career and the first for his national team in 28 years, and Euro 1996 in 36 years.

The England national team at the beginning of the 21st century suffered from perturbations on the coaching bridge. In the spring of 2012, Roy Hodgson was appointed head coach of the team. The coach received his first serious call immediately after the appointment. The Euro 2012 championship, which was held in Ukraine, was the first test for an Englishman as head coach of the England team. The performance of the team cannot be called successful. The team with great difficulties and the scandal associated with the uncounted goal of the Ukrainian national team went to the playoffs of the tournament. Already in the first round of relegation games, England met with Italy and lost in the pen alty shootout. In 2014, at the World Cup in Brazil, the team could not even make it out of the group, and in 2016, they lost to Iceland in the quarterfinals of the European Championship.

Working outside the coaching bench

Roy Hodgson worked not only as a coach of national teams and football clubs. During the World Cup in 2006,which took place in Germany, he was a member of the UEFA Technical Study Group. He also held this position at several European Championships.

Roy speaks five languages, and this has given him the opportunity to work as a football pundit on television in the countries where his coaching career came.

Interim results of coaching career

During his long coaching career, Hodgson has had the opportunity to coach many clubs. The most famous of them were Liverpool and Inter. In addition, Roy was the coach of several national teams, including his own. But if with the Swiss team he was able to make a name for himself in world football, then coaching the England team, he did not manage to achieve any special results.

The English coach managed to win the Swedish championship four times (twice with Malmö and Halmstad), two Swedish Cups, the championship and the Danish Super Cup with Copenhagen. While coaching the English Fulham, Hodgson was able to reach the final of the first draw of the Europa League in the 2009/10 season. This achievement can be considered the most significant in the career of an English manager.