West Brom’s Hodgson approached by The FA over England job

West Bromich Albion have granted the Football Association permission to speak to Roy Hodgson about the vacant England manager’s position.

Hodgson, who has previously managed Finland, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, has already spoken with the FA chairman David Bernstein about replacing Fabio Capello.

The former Liverpool boss, who has steered West Brom to mid-table safety this season, was an outsider to replace Capello, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Redknapp thought to have been The FA’s first choice.

But Bernstein insisted Hodgson is the only coach they have contacted about filling the role in time for this summer’s European championships.

Bernstein said: “Roy is the only manager we have approached and we remain on course to make an appointment within the timescale we set-out soon after Fabio Capello’s departure.

“Further conversations will now take place with Roy and my Club England colleagues before any further announcements can be made.”

Capello resigned in February over the FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy until the verdict of the Chelsea defender’s trial for alleged racist abuse.

The FA appointed Stuart Pearce as interim coach and the former Manchester City manager oversaw England’s 3-2 defeat by the Netherlands at Wembley in March.

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace said: “Roy has done a fantastic job over the past 15 months and the fact The FA want to discuss the England role with him is testament to that.

“Roy is a proud Englishman and we can understand why he wants to speak to The FA about this highly-prestigious managerial position.

“However, we have emphasised to Roy how much we would like him to remain as our Head Coach and continue his major contribution to our project at The Hawthorns as we look to establish ourselves as a Premier League club.”

Roy Hodgson factfile

• A schoolteacher and semi-professional defender, Hodgson spent the majority of his playing career in the English non-league, also enjoying a brief sojourn with South African side Berea Park.

• A coaching career spanning eight countries began with Halmstad, Hodgson guiding the Swedish club to their first ever Allsvenskan titles in 1976 and 1979; five successive championships later came with Malmö.

• A spell at Xamax followed before the first of three forays into international management. Hodgson’s Switzerland side qualified for the 1994 World Cup – their first in 28 years – and then Euro 96 but the coach left for Inter before the latter tournament in his homeland.

• After taking the Nerazzurri to the 1997 Uefa Cup final, Hodgson had spells in England, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, the UAE, Norway and Finland, as well as a short stint back at Inter as technical director.

• He then managed Blackburn, Fulham and Liverpool in the Premier League before moving to West Bromwich Albion in February 2011.

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