Roy Hodgson

Infobox Football biography
playername = Roy Hodgson


fullname = Roy Hodgson
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1947|8|9
cityofbirth = Croydon, London
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Fulham (Manager)
years =



clubs = Crystal Palace
Tonbridge
Gravesend and Northfleet
Maidstone United
caps(goals) =



manageryears = 1976–1980
1982
1983–1985
1985–1990
1990–1992
1992–1995
1995–1997
1997–1998
1999
1999–2000
2000–2001
2001
2002–2004
2004–2006
2006–2007
2007–
managerclubs = Halmstads BK
Bristol City
Örebro SK
Malmö FF
Neuchâtel Xamax
Switzerland
Internazionale
Blackburn Rovers
Internazionale
Grasshoppers
F.C. Copenhagen
Udinese
United Arab Emirates
Viking FK
Finland
Fulham

Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Fulham.cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/7163374.stm |title=Fulham appoint Hodgson as manager |date=2007-12-28 |accessdate=2007-12-28 |publisher=BBC Sport ]

Hodgson is probably best known for guiding the Swiss national team to the 1994 World Cup and Euro 1996; before that Switzerland had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1960s. He has also coached many notable club sides, including Malmö FF, Internazionale, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, F.C. Copenhagen and Udinese. He was appointed to his current role at Fulham in December 2007. Hodgson has served several times as a member of UEFA's technical study group at the European Championships, and he was also a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) at the 2006 World Cup. Hodgson has also worked as a television pundit in several of the countries in which he has coached and is multilingual.

Biography

Hodgson was born in Croydon and educated at John Ruskin Grammar School. He was a moderately successful player with Crystal Palace (where he failed to break into the first team) followed by several years in non-league football with Tonbridge, Gravesend and Northfleet and Maidstone United (where he was assistant coach), before starting his coaching career at Swedish Allsvenskan outfit Halmstads BK in 1976. He spent five years at the club, winning the Swedish championship in 1976 and 1979. In 1980, he moved to Bristol City in his native England, where he was assistant manager and later manager. In 1983, Hodgson moved back to Sweden to take over Örebro SK. In 1985, he took over at Malmö FF, which he led to five consecutive Allsvenskan league championships, two Swedish championships (at the time the Swedish championship was decided through play-offs) as well as two Swedish Cups before moving to Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax in 1990. His early coaching career was closely linked to that of his friend Bob Houghton; they worked together at Maidstone and Bristol City, and they both worked in Swedish football at the same time. The pair are credited with transforming Swedish football. [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1800194,00.html Lagerback faces familiar foes] ,"The Guardian"]

In 1992, Hodgson took over the Swiss national team, which he led to the 1994 World Cup, also reaching the second round, and Euro 1996. Before the start of the European Championships, however, he joined Italian Serie A giants Internazionale, where he worked from 1995 to 1997, reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1996-97. In 1997, he left Inter to manage Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, which he guided to the UEFA Cup in his first season, but was sacked early in the second season because of poor form. In 1998, he was seriously considered to succeed Berti Vogts as the coach of the German national team, but the German FA decided to appoint a domestic coach instead. In 1999, he had a brief second stint at Inter before returning to Switzerland to coach Grasshoppers FC for a season.

In 2000, Hodgson was one of three candidates to take over as England manager, but when Sven-Göran Eriksson was chosen, he moved to Denmark, and won the Superliga championship with F.C. Copenhagen in 2000-01. In 2001, he broke his contract with F.C. Copenhagen to move to Serie A side Udinese. In April 2002 Hodgson took over as coach of the United Arab Emirates but was sacked in January 2004 after leading them to fifth place at the Gulf Cup. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1919640.stm Hodgson handed Emirates post] ] [ [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/uae/?id=8498 UAE sacks Hodgson] ] In May 2004, he moved to Norwegian club Viking F.K.. On August 15, 2005, he agreed to take over as coach of the Finnish national team for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Hodgson failed to reach Euro 2008 with Finland (despite attaining 24 points and coming 4th in their group). Hodgson's Finland were praised for well organized defending but criticized for inefficient attacking. Finland played five 0-0 draws in 14 qualification games. However, Finland had a chance to qualify still in their last match, which is very exceptional in Finnish football. Hodgson's contract expired in the end of November, and although the Finnish FA expressed their willingness to extend it, Hodgson decided to move on. [ [http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=103424 Suomen Palloliitto - Artikkeliarkisto ] ] Prior to taking up an ambassadorial role at Inter Milan, Hodgson was linked with the vacant Republic of Ireland manager job. [ [http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_2821179,00.html Sky Sports | Football | Features | Staunton successor ] ] He was also considered an outside candidate to replace Steve McClaren as England manager, [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=496225&in_page_id=1779 No future for England - Sportsmail reveals the shocking shortage of talent available for the next World Cup campaign | the Daily Mail ] ] having been linked to the job after the departure of Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1929302.stm BBC SPORT | FOOTBALL | Hodgson's England claim ] ] and given his international management record and nationality.

Although he had only rejoined Inter at the start of December, it was announced on 28 December 2007 that Hodgson had accepted the manager's post at Premier League side Fulham. His contract began on 30 December 2007. After a slow start, hampered by losses to Chelsea, West Ham and a dire performance in a 3-0 loss against Arsenal, Hodgson made some new signings, However, he also loaned out former Aston Villa Player of the Year, Steven Davis, to Rangers where he has played regularly. A win against Aston Villa - with Jimmy Bullard scoring in his first league start since his injury to secure all three points with minutes remaining - did much to lift the morale at Craven Cottage. It was soon followed by a win against Everton, but poor results against relegated Derby (2-2) and Sunderland at home (1-3) had some supporters baying for his blood. The majority stood firm, and a marvellous away win against Reading gave fans hope. He guided Fulham to survival with an excellent 3-2 away victory at Manchester City, with City being 2-0 ahead until 70 minutes had passed, substitutes Diomansy Kamara and Erik Nevland having immediate impact - Kamara putting the ball through the City 'keeper's legs, Nevland winning a penalty, and Kamara scoring a winner with seconds left on the clock to cap a dramatic game. A win against Birmingham saw Fulham in control of their own destiny on the final day of the season, needing to win against Portsmouth. A 76th minute Danny Murphy goal sealed survival, as Fulham had better goal difference than relegation rivals Reading, who had beaten Derby 4-0. This has made Hodgson a hero amongst the Fulham faithful, as he guided the side from the position of 19th where they had been under Northern Ireland legend Lawrie Sanchez.

Managerial stats

Updated 5 May 2008

Managerial honours

flagicon|Sweden Halmstads BK

Winners
* 1976 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1976 Swedish Champions
* 1979 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1979 Swedish Champions

flagicon|Sweden Malmö FF

Winners
* 1985–86 Svenska Cupen
* 1986 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1986 Swedish Champions
* 1987 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1988 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1988 Swedish Champions
* 1988–89 Svenska Cupen
* 1989 Allsvenskan (Level 1)

Runner-up
* 1987 Allsvenskan play-off
* 1989 Allsvenskan play-off

flagicon|Switzerland Switzerland

* 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
* 1996 UEFA European Football Championship qualification

flagicon|Italy Internazionale

Runner Up
* 1996–97 UEFA Cup

flagicon|Denmark F.C. Copenhagen

Winner
* 2000–01 Danish Superliga (Level 1)

References

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=1104|name=Roy Hodgson