Halmstad Hodgson started his managerial career in 1976 at
Allsvenskan side
Halmstad, having been recommended by then-
Malmö manager
Bob Houghton. The year before, Halmstad struggled against relegation, surviving on just goal difference and before the 1976 campaign began they were almost universally tipped for relegation. Hodgson himself says that "my greatest achievement would have to be the
water-into-wine job at Halmstad."
Malmö In 1985, he took over at Malmö, which he led to five consecutive
league championships, two Swedish championships (at the time the Swedish championship was decided through play-offs) and two
Swedish Cups. His team took part regularly in European competitions: the
Intertoto Cup, the
European Cup and the
UEFA Cup. In the
1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup, they defeated
Apollon Limassol in the first round and
Tirana in the second round, losing to
Ajax in the quarter finals. In the
1987–88 European Cup, Malmö were eliminated in the first round by
Anderlecht. In the
1988–89 UEFA Cup, Malmö defeated
Torpedo Moscow in the first round after extra time and lost to the club Hodgson would manage seven years later,
Inter Milan, in the second round. Narrowly losing 1–0 at home, they secured a 1–1 draw at the
San Siro. Hodgson's greatest continental achievement at Malmö came the following year in the
1989–90 European Cup, knocking Inter out in the first round,
winning 1–0 at home and drawing 1–1 at the San Siro. In the second round, Malmö lost to
Mechelen. Due to his successful time at Malmö, Hodgson is still highly appreciated by the club's fans who have unofficially named a section of the
Stadion "Roy's Hörna" (Roy's Corner). Hodgson continues to be held in high regard at Malmö, where he is known as "Royson".
Influence on Swedish football 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. Houghton moved to Sweden with Malmö in 1974 and two years later installed Hodgson at Halmstad. The pair are credited with transforming football in Sweden and bringing in
zonal marking for the first time to Swedish football. and used a sweeper with three or five in defence, favouring man-marking. The two were known in Sweden as English Roy and English Bob. Besides zonal marking, the defence pressed hard and maintained a high offside line.
Neuchâtel Xamax Malmö offered Hodgson a lifetime contract, but he declined, saying later that "moving to another place seemed exciting. The decision was also financial. Swedish taxes were so high that even if you were being paid reasonable money, after losing 65% in tax there wasn't a lot left." Stielike had been the first Swiss coach to have a winning record, The campaign, in which the Swiss came one point behind Italy, resulted in them rising to third in the
FIFA World Rankings. The
1996–97 season saw Hodgson leave Inter after guiding them to a third-place finish. He was replaced by
Luigi Simoni whose side finished second in the league in the
1997–98 season and won the UEFA Cup. In an interview in 2009, Hodgson recalled his time at Inter: "We lacked stars, apart from
Paul Ince. It wasn't the Inter we see today of household names. They weren't the best technically but physically they were like machines. The Premier League is like that now, but back then Italy was far ahead." The final was his last match in charge and he subsequently left to become the manager of
Blackburn Rovers. In the same 2009 interview, Hodgson recalled how club president
Massimo Moratti tried to talk him out of leaving: "I could have stayed. They offered me a new contract, but I had a feeling that they wanted a change. So I allowed my contract at Inter to run out. Even after I agreed to join Blackburn, Moratti did say to me: 'I don't know why you didn't stay here, but if that's what you want to do I won't stand in your way.'" Speaking about Hodgson's time at Inter, club president Massimo Moratti said: "Roy Hodgson was an important person in the development of Inter Milan to the point we have reached today. He saved us at the right time. When he came we were in trouble and things appeared dark. He didn't panic, he was calm and made us calm. Disaster was averted at the most important time. Everyone at Inter will remember him for that and his contribution. He is considered by us all as an important person in our history. He left an endowment to this club that's important in our history."
Blackburn Rovers Hodgson was one of three targets for
Blackburn Rovers owner
Jack Walker when
Ray Harford resigned as their manager in October 1996, along with
Terry Venables and
Sven-Göran Eriksson. The following February, with his Inter contract due to expire in July, Hodgson agreed to move upon its expiration to join Rovers for three years. As Eriksson had backed out of an agreement to move to the club, Hodgson signed a contract including a six-figure penalty if he did not join when freed by Inter. In the
1997–98 season, his first season in charge, Blackburn finished sixth, qualifying for the UEFA Cup and appearing to be in the ascendancy, especially as they had been outsiders in the title race for more than half of the season and Hodgson had been voted
Premier League Manager of the Month on two occasions, in August and December 1997. However, the team's form collapsed dramatically in the second half of the season and it was only on the last day of the season that they secured a UEFA place. dressing room unrest, and the failure to find an adequate replacement for departed central defender
Colin Hendry. As a result, Blackburn had a poor start to the season. After
Berti Vogts resigned as manager of the
Germany national team in September 1998, Hodgson was contacted by the German FA to succeed him. When England manager
Glenn Hoddle faced calls for him to resign following a much-criticised serialised diary in a national newspaper and poor results in the opening games of
Euro 2000 qualification, Hodgson was the favourite among the media and the bookmakers to take over. Ultimately, Hoddle stayed in the job and Hodgson was dismissed two months later on 21 November 1998, with Blackburn bottom of the league table. Hodgson later explained that Blackburn's owner gave him the chance to resign honourably, but he refused to do so, leaving the club with no option but to dismiss him. His final game was a
home defeat by
Southampton. He later complained that his failure at Blackburn tarnished his reputation in England, whilst his record on the continent should have made him comparable to
Sir Alex Ferguson. Ultimately,
Kevin Keegan was appointed. Shortly after,
Austria were defeated 9–0 by
Spain in a
Euro 2000 qualifier and manager
Herbert Prohaska resigned. Hodgson was shortlisted to become the next manager, but the role went instead to
Otto Barić. Hodgson then returned to Inter as technical director and had a brief second stint as caretaker, before returning to Switzerland to coach
Grasshoppers for a season. He led the team to a fourth-placed finish in the
1999–2000 Nationalliga A in both the league and the subsequent championship play-off league. After Kevin Keegan resigned as manager of the England national football team in October 2000, Hodgson was one of three shortlisted candidates to take over; however, after having agreed to move to
Copenhagen prior to
the FA showing interest in interviewing him for the position, he was obliged to refuse any offer and the job went to
Sven-Göran Eriksson.
Copenhagen, Udinese Hodgson moved to Denmark in July 2000 and became manager of Copenhagen, where he proved an instant success, taking a team that had finished seventh and eighth in the two previous seasons to the
Superliga championship in the
2000–01 season – the club's first championship since 1993. His team also won the 2001
Danish Supercup. In 2001, he left Copenhagen to move to
Serie A side
Udinese. With the club in ninth place and in the quarter finals of the
2001–02 Coppa Italia, Hodgson was fired in December 2001 after less than six months in charge after allegedly stating that he regretted taking up the post. Newspapers quoted him saying: "Obviously I'm very happy to be back at this level of football, but I could have chosen a better club to come back to. It's an extremely strange club." Hodgson denied making the comments, but later claimed that he wanted to leave so was happy to be dismissed.
United Arab Emirates Hodgson took over as manager of the
United Arab Emirates in April 2002, managing the senior and Olympic sides. Hodgson's reign began with six friendlies. The first two ended in defeat and the subsequent four were draws. Hodgson then successfully led the team
through qualification to the
2004 Asian Cup as runners-up of their group. Before the Asian Cup took place, Hodgson led the team during the
16th Arabian Gulf Cup. He was dismissed in January 2004 after a fifth-placed finish in the round-robin tournament. Without him, the team went on to finish bottom of their group at the Asian Cup, collecting a single point.
Viking In July 2004, Hodgson moved to Norwegian club
Viking, replacing manager
Bjarne Berntsen, who resigned to become manager of the
Norway women's national football team. The club had finished fifth in
the season before Hodgson took over and finished ninth under Hodgson in
their first season in their new stadium,
Viking Stadion. They also qualified for the
2005–06 UEFA Cup through their
UEFA Fair Play ranking. The following season, in the UEFA Cup, Viking progressed through two qualifying rounds, beating
Rhyl and
Austria Wien. In the group stage, Viking finished fourth, missing out on progressing to the knockout stage by just two points. The highlight of their campaign was a 1–0 victory over
Monaco. In the
2005 Premier League, following a spell at the top of the table, Viking finished fifth, five points off top spot. Hodgson resigned in December 2005 to become manager of the
Finland national football team.
Finland Hodgson was to begin work with Finland in June 2006 but after resigning as manager of Viking in December 2005, he began the role early, in January 2006. Hodgson's first matches in charge were against
Saudi Arabia and
South Korea in a friendly tournament at the end of January. Finland played five more friendlies before qualification for
UEFA Euro 2008 got under way, drawing three and losing two. Drawn in
Group A, Finland, a country who had never qualified for a major tournament, narrowly failed to qualify. Their qualification campaign began well, winning three and drawing two of their opening five matches, leaving them briefly top of the table. Defeats to
Azerbaijan and
Serbia saw them fall from top spot. Wins against
Belgium and
Kazakhstan renewed their hopes of qualification but they drew their next three games 0–0. A subsequent friendly against
Spain also finished 0–0. A win against Azerbaijan kept the chance of qualification possible and it was only when their final match against
Portugal ended in a 0–0 draw that Finland were eliminated. Although Hodgson's win ratio of just 27.3% was the worst of any Finland manager since 2000, this is attributable to his record in friendlies. Out of eight friendly matches, Finland drew five and lost three. All six of his wins came in official qualifying matches, allowing Finland to come fourth in their group with a respectable 24 points, finishing below third-placed Serbia on goal difference and missing out on qualification by just three points. Hodgson drew plaudits for his work with the team and Finland were praised for well-organised defending but criticised for inefficient attacking – five of Finland's 14 qualification games ended in 0–0 draws. In May 2007, when
Lawrie Sanchez resigned as manager of the
Northern Ireland national football team to manage Premier League side
Fulham, Hodgson was considered for the role, but he committed himself to staying with Finland. Hodgson would go on to succeed Sanchez as manager of Fulham seven months later. Hodgson's contract expired at the end of November 2007 and although the Finnish FA expressed their willingness to extend it, he decided to move on. Prior to taking up an ambassadorial role at Inter, Hodgson was linked with the vacant
Republic of Ireland manager's job. He was also considered an outside candidate to replace
Steve McClaren as England manager, having been linked previously to the job after the departures of Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan Hodgson accepted the post of manager at struggling
Premier League team
Fulham, with his contract beginning on 30 December 2007. The club were 18th, two points from safety and had only won two Premier League games all season. Hodgson's first game in charge was the
West London derby against
Chelsea at
Craven Cottage which his club lost, 2–1. Hodgson made half a dozen signings in the January transfer window, the most important proving to be centre half
Brede Hangeland, who would go on to become a key player for the club and who Hodgson had managed at Viking. Hodgson initially endured a run of very poor results with the club, including being knocked out of the
FA Cup on penalties after two draws against
League One side
Bristol Rovers. Apparently certainties for relegation to the
Championship, Fulham picked up just nine points from Hodgson's first thirteen league games. However, a run of 12 points from the last five games of the season, including a 3–2 win over
Manchester City after being 2–0 down with 20 minutes remaining, secured the Cottagers' survival, which was confirmed on the final day of the season with a 1–0 win over
Portsmouth. Ahead of the
2008–09 season, Hodgson made several important signings. Goalkeeper
Mark Schwarzer and midfielder
Zoltán Gera arrived on free transfers, as did teenage defender
Chris Smalling, who would go on to be sold to
Manchester United for £12 million. Other signings included striker
Bobby Zamora and defender
John Paintsil for a combined £6.3 million and striker
Andy Johnson for £10.5 million. In the Premier League, Hodgson led Fulham to unprecedented success, guiding his side to seventh place in the Premier League, the club's highest ever finish and ensuring qualification for the new
UEFA Europa League. Fulham also enjoyed a cup run, reaching the quarter finals of the
FA Cup. The club received a number of additional awards from the Premier League, namely the
Fair Play Award, the
Behaviour of the Public Award and the
Barclays Spirit Award for Hodgson. There were calls for Hodgson to be given the
Premier League Manager of the Year award and he received much praise for the signings of Mark Schwarzer, Andy Johnson and Brede Hangeland and for the improvement in Bobby Zamora's performances. Hodgson's spell at Fulham greatly revived his reputation in England after his time in charge of Blackburn over a decade earlier, with renewed speculation linking him to the
England job should
Fabio Capello have left. Players joining Fulham before the
2009–10 season included right back
Stephen Kelly and midfielders
Bjørn Helge Riise,
Damien Duff and
Jonathan Greening. Hodgson enjoyed a memorable run in the
Europa League. The club's campaign, which started in July 2009 in the
third qualifying round, featured impressive performances in the group stage, including defeating
Basel at the hostile
St. Jakob-Park in the final group game to qualify for the knockout stage at the expense of the Swiss club. In the following rounds, Fulham went on to eliminate holders
Shakhtar Donetsk 3–2 on aggregate, Italian runners-up
Juventus 5–4 on aggregate and German champions
Wolfsburg 3–1 on aggregate. The victory against Juventus was especially memorable. Fulham lost 3–1 in
Turin and went 4–1 down on aggregate in the second minute of the second leg at Craven Cottage. However, a goal from Bobby Zamora, a brace from
Zoltán Gera and a late winner from
Clint Dempsey meant that Fulham won the tie 5–4 on aggregate. On 29 April 2010, Hodgson guided Fulham to their first major European final in their 130-year history, winning the home leg 2–1 after a 0–0 away draw to gain a 2–1 aggregate victory over
Hamburg in the Europa League semi-final. In
the final on 12 May at the
HSH Nordbank Arena in
Hamburg, Fulham played Spanish club
Atlético Madrid. The game went to extra time at 1–1 after first-half goals from
Diego Forlán and
Simon Davies. With a penalty shoot-out looming and just four minutes remaining, Forlán scored again to win the game for Atlético Madrid. In the Premier League, the Europa League commitments showed as their League form became inconsistent. Fulham lost four of their first six games before losing only one of their following 12. Five successive defeats preceded a run of five unbeaten. Three straight defeats were then followed by three unbeaten before their final four games garnered one win and three defeats, meaning the club finished twelfth, just four points off ninth place. The club also enjoyed another good run in the FA Cup, again reaching the quarter-final before losing the replay to
Tottenham Hotspur. In May 2010, Hodgson was voted the 2010
LMA Manager of the Year by a record margin. Hodgson received the award after a poll of coaches, including managers from the top four leagues in England. Two days later, his Fulham side lost the club's first European final 2–1 to Atlético Madrid. On 30 June 2010, the
Liverpool Echo reported that Hodgson would be named as the new
Liverpool manager after the club had agreed a £2 million compensation deal with Fulham. The announcement came after weeks of speculation following the departure of
Rafael Benítez.
Liverpool On 1 July 2010, Hodgson was appointed as manager of
Liverpool, signing a three-year contract. The appointment came against the backdrop of an unexpected candidacy bid from former Liverpool striker and manager and then-club ambassador
Kenny Dalglish. Dalglish's application was rejected by the club, who publicly never gave a reason for their decision, but it was suggested that he had been away from management for too long. Instead, Hodgson was chosen as the candidate that could use his extensive experience in management 'to steady the ship'. With the club up for sale at the time, Liverpool were likely to face some turbulent times, but Hodgson's appointment met with mixed reactions from fans. There were suggestions of insufficient experience with "big clubs", despite his tenure at Inter, and that he might struggle to manage high-profile players. Former
Marseille and
Juventus manager
Didier Deschamps later said that he had been offered the job before Hodgson, but had turned it down. Having signed
Milan Jovanović and
Joe Cole, Hodgson's first game as manager was a friendly against one of his former clubs, Grasshoppers, on 21 July, which ended as a goalless draw. On 29 July, his first competitive game in charge was a 2–0 away win against
Rabotnički in the
Europa League. In the return leg at
Anfield, Liverpool again won 2–0, winning the tie 4–0 on aggregate. Hodgson's first league game with Liverpool was against
Arsenal, being denied a debut win only after a last minute own goal by
Pepe Reina resulted in a draw. Hodgson made further signings in goalkeeper
Brad Jones, defenders
Danny Wilson and
Paul Konchesky, midfielders
Christian Poulsen and
Raul Meireles, as well as re-signing full-back
Fábio Aurélio, who had been released by the club earlier in the summer. Meanwhile, Benitez signings
Albert Riera,
Diego Cavalieri and
Javier Mascherano were all sold, whilst
Alberto Aquilani was loaned out to
Juventus and
Emiliano Insúa was loaned out to
Galatasaray. On 29 August, Hodgson achieved his first league win, defeating
West Bromwich Albion 1–0 at Anfield. After that, Liverpool had a series of poor results, one of which saw the club eliminated from the
League Cup on 23 September by League Two strugglers
Northampton Town at Anfield, losing on
penalties. Prior to the home game against newly promoted
Blackpool on 3 October, Hodgson responded to his critics, describing himself as "one of the most respected coaches in Europe" and said it was "insulting" to suggest he could not handle Liverpool's big-name players. Liverpool lost the game 2–1, leaving them third from bottom after seven games. By late October, speculation was rife that Hodgson would be dismissed. Hodgson stated that he had no intention of resigning and responded aggressively to suggestions that
Frank Rijkaard, who had recently been dismissed as manager of
Galatasaray, would be appointed in his place. Three straight Premier League victories, including a 2–0 home win over league leaders
Chelsea, reduced speculation as Liverpool returned to the top half of the table. New club owner
John W. Henry stated his backing for Hodgson. On 8 January 2011, Hodgson left the club by mutual consent, with Kenny Dalglish announced as his replacement.
West Bromwich Albion Hodgson was appointed head coach of
West Bromwich Albion on 11 February 2011, signing a contract until June 2012. Hodgson replaced
Roberto Di Matteo, who had been dismissed after a poor run of form, which saw West Brom lose 13 of their previous 18 matches and slip to 17th in the table, only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Hodgson's first game in charge ended in a 1–1 home draw against West Brom's
Black Country rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers. Hodgson helped West Brom to five wins and five draws from their twelve remaining games, including an important 2–1 win at
The Hawthorns against Liverpool, a result that some in the media dubbed "Roy's Revenge". West Brom finished 11th in the final table, their highest league finish for three decades. Despite having to deal with West Brom's notoriously frugal approach to the transfer market, Hodgson made several signings in the summer of 2011, replacing goalkeeping duo
Boaz Myhill and
Scott Carson with former
Manchester United goalkeeper
Ben Foster on loan from
Birmingham City and drafting in
Márton Fülöp from
Ipswich Town on a free transfer. Experience and height was added to the backline in the form of Northern Ireland international
Gareth McAuley on a free transfer and
Billy Jones also arrived to add cover at fullback. Prior to the start of the season, former Hawthorns hero
Zoltán Gera also returned on a free transfer from Fulham and a summer-long chase for
Shane Long was finally ended with the Irish international signing for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £4million. Long joined the club in time to make a scoring début in the season's opener. Following good performances against Manchester United and
Chelsea in their opening two fixtures, Hodgson's usual 4–4–2 formation was replaced with a 4–4–1–1 or a 4–3–3 formation. Despite his side being continually beset with injuries to key players and the season-long loss of Zoltan Gera to a cruciate ligament injury in only his second start after returning, Hodgson's side always remained well above the relegation zone until the Christmas period when successive 2–1 home defeats to newly promoted duo
Swansea City and
Norwich City as well as to bottom club
Wigan Athletic saw them move within three points of 18th-place Bolton Wanderers. With Hodgson repeatedly stating his ambition for the season was to ensure a third season of Premier League football for West Brom for the first time in almost 30 years, he signed midfielder
Keith Andrews and full back
Liam Ridgewell in the January transfer window. In February 2012, Hodgson led West Brom to three consecutive wins, defeating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–1 at
Molineux and recording successive wins at The Hawthorns for the first time all season, defeating
Sunderland 4–0 and Chelsea 1–0. West Brom's form in the final third of the season saw them win six, draw three and lose five from a difficult run-in involving games against seven of the top eight teams. In West Brom's final win of the season they defeated Liverpool again, this time at
Anfield, their first win there since 1967. On 29 April 2012, it was reported that Hodgson was approached by the FA for the vacant England manager job. He was appointed as England manager two days later but continued to manage West Brom until the end of the 2011–12 Premier League campaign, guiding the club to a 10th-placed finish, West Brom's highest top flight finish since 1981.
England Appointment After England manager
Fabio Capello resigned, it had been widely reported in the British press that then-
Tottenham Hotspur manager
Harry Redknapp was favourite for the position. However, the FA chairman,
David Bernstein, stated that, despite there being a shortlist of candidates, Hodgson was the only one approached. On 1 May 2012, the Football Association appointed him as the
manager of
England after agreeing a four-year contract. He officially assumed the position on 14 May. Ferdinand's manager
Sir Alex Ferguson agreed with Hodgson, saying that at the Euros, "you play something like a game every four days. Rio Ferdinand couldn't do that". Speculation was rife that Ferdinand was not selected due to Hodgson not wanting both Ferdinand and
John Terry in the same dressing room when Terry was due to undergo trial in July for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Anton. After injury ruled centre-back
Gary Cahill out of the squad, Hodgson elected to pick Liverpool full-back
Martin Kelly over Ferdinand, leading to Ferdinand's representative
Jamie Moralee accusing Hodgson of disrespecting Ferdinand. Hodgson said about the decision: "When it came to bringing another player in, I wasn't going to bring in a player of Rio's age, class, background and experience to be a cover player. I had to be convinced, if I was going to take Rio in my 23, he'd be one of the first names on the team sheet. I couldn't be convinced that would be the case". In Hodgson's first game, a friendly on 26 May in
Oslo, England beat
Norway 1–0, the first win by an England side against Norway for 32 years. Hodgson's second game in charge, and his first game at
Wembley Stadium, was a 1–0 win over
Belgium on 2 June. Although England did not enjoy the higher percentage of possession, the signs were they would be a tough defensive unit to beat. In the build-up to
Euro 2012, Hodgson added
Ray Lewington,
Gary Neville and goalkeeping coach
Dave Watson to his coaching team. It was widely reported in the build-up to Euro 2012 that, with England's so-called "Golden Generation" at an end, a squad hit by injuries and with Hodgson having only a matter of weeks to prepare for the tournament, expectations for the national team, usually quite high, were considerably lower than usual. Hodgson's first competitive game as England manager ended in a 1–1 draw with
France in England's first
Euro 2012 group stage match. England faced
Sweden in the second group game, which England won 3–2. Down 2–1, Hodgson replaced
James Milner with
Theo Walcott, with Walcott scoring the equalising goal and then assisting Danny Welbeck's winner, in England's first ever competitive victory over Sweden. In England's final group match, starting in second place behind France and needing only to avoid defeat to qualify,
Wayne Rooney, returning from suspension, scored the only goal as England beat co-hosts
Ukraine 1–0. Combined with Sweden's shock 2–0 victory over France, the result meant England qualified as group winners with France finishing second. Winning the group meant that England played the runners-up of Group C,
Italy, thus avoiding reigning World and European champions
Spain. In the quarter finals, England drew 0–0 with Italy, before going out 4–2 on penalties. Although Italy dominated possession throughout the match, Hodgson's side were praised for being defensively well-organised and hard to beat, and the team were reported to have either met or exceeded their expectations. Under Hodgson's management England rose to third in the
FIFA World Rankings, their highest ever position since the rankings were introduced in 1992.
2014 World Cup qualification England were drawn in
Group H of the
European Zone of qualification for the
2014 FIFA World Cup, alongside
Moldova,
Montenegro,
Poland,
San Marino and
Ukraine. They started the campaign on 7 September 2012 with a convincing 5–0 away win over Moldova, and in their second qualifier on 11 September the team drew 1–1 to Ukraine. In a friendly at
Wembley on 6 February 2013, England beat
Brazil 2–1, their first win against the South American side for 23 years. England resumed World Cup qualifiers on 22 March when they thumped San Marino 8–0 at the
Stadio Olimpico. The goals came from seven different scorers and included a brace for
Jermain Defoe and a first England goal for
Daniel Sturridge. The win was England's biggest since they beat
Turkey 8–0 in October 1987. In July 2013, the FA announced that Hodgson would take charge of the
England under-21 side for one game, against the
Scotland under-21s in a friendly on 13 August. England beat their rivals 6–0 at
Bramall Lane. On 15 October 2013, England beat
Poland 2–0 at
Wembley, with goals from
Wayne Rooney and
Steven Gerrard, to qualify unbeaten for the
2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Hodgson said after the match that reaching the tournament was his proudest moment in football. After the Poland win, Hodgson was criticised by
Kick It Out for a half-time speech to
Chris Smalling and
Andros Townsend, in which he made a joke about a monkey and an astronaut. Townsend did not find the joke offensive and was surprised by the criticism.
2014 World Cup On 12 May 2014, Hodgson announced his squad for the finals, stating: "I believe the squad can win the World Cup." The 23-man squad included Everton's
Ross Barkley and Liverpool's
Raheem Sterling, but not
Ashley Cole, who announced his retirement from international football after missing out. England lost to
Italy 2–1 in their opening match of the World Cup on 14 June, and in their second match were beaten by
Uruguay 2–1. Following Costa Rica's 1–0 defeat of Italy on 20 June, England were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 1958. After the loss to Uruguay, Hodgson stated, "I don't have any intention to resign." England finished their World Cup campaign on 24 June with a goalless draw against
Costa Rica to finish bottom of
Group D.
Euro 2016 Hodgson named
Wayne Rooney as the new captain of England in August 2014, following the retirement of
Steven Gerrard from international football. Hodgson's first match after the World Cup was a 1–0 win against
Norway in an international friendly match at
Wembley on 3 September 2014. During the match, England made only two shots on target. Hodgson was infuriated when asked about this, describing the statistic as "fucking bollocks". Former England player,
Alan Shearer stated that he found the match dull, adding that "those who did go probably wish they hadn't." Under Hodgson, England dropped to 20th in the
FIFA World Rankings, their worst position since May 1996. England started their
Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a 2–0 win against
Switzerland, with
Danny Welbeck scoring both goals. In March 2015, England won 4–0 against
Lithuania, their fifth competitive win in a row to maintain their 100% record in qualifying for Euro 2016. On 5 September, England beat San Marino 6–0 away to qualify for Euro 2016. England concluded its
qualification having won all 10 of its matches becoming only the fifth national side to qualify for a European Championship with a 100% record, and the sixth instance of all time. Prior to the tournament, Hodgson was praised in the media for introducing several promising young players, and for giving a more offensive playing style to the team. In the
Euro 2016 tournament in France, England progressed from the group stage as runners-up to Wales, after drawing 0–0 with
Slovakia. On 27 June, after
England were knocked out by Iceland in the round of 16, Hodgson resigned. Following the elimination, he endured media criticism for the team's negative performance, and for making several questionable selections and tactical decisions, such as the six changes made to the squad that had defeated
Wales 2–1, which resulted in a 0–0 draw against Slovakia and a second-place finish in the group. He was also accused of failing to give the side sufficient preparation or an identity to their game.
Crystal Palace On 12 September 2017, Hodgson was appointed manager of his boyhood club
Crystal Palace, replacing
Frank De Boer after signing a two-year contract with the South London club. He was tasked with managing a Palace side that had lost their first four league games of the season without scoring a single goal. Despite losing his first three games in charge, a turnaround in form meant he led Crystal Palace to safety and an eleventh-place finish in the league. No team had previously survived relegation from the top flight after losing their first seven games (itself a new Premier League record). Crystal Palace finished the
2018–19 season on 49 points, equalling their best ever total in a single Premier League campaign. During it, in a match against
Leicester City that Palace won 4–1, Hodgson beat Sir
Bobby Robson's record as the oldest man to manage in the Premier League, at the age of 71 years and 198 days. In March 2020, he signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of the
2020–21 season. On 18 May 2021, Hodgson announced that he would be leaving at the end of the season, having preserved Palace's place in the league. Asked about retirement, he said: "I really am stepping away from football for a while, but who knows what the future will be? It is a never-say-never moment. I've seen so many people retire with all the fanfare blazing, only to surface again somewhere in a fairly short period of time. I'd prefer not to do that."
Watford On 25 January 2022, Hodgson returned to the Premier League when he was appointed as manager of
Watford. He replaced
Claudio Ranieri, who was dismissed the previous day with the club lying in 19th in the table, and signed a contract until the end of the
2021–22 season. In May 2022, Hodgson said that he would not be at the club after the end of the season and that he would not be seeking another managerial job in the Premier League. Watford were eventually relegated at the end of that season, finishing 19th with 23 points.
Return to Crystal Palace On 21 March 2023, Hodgson returned to Crystal Palace as their manager until the end of the
2022–23 season, following the dismissal of his initial successor
Patrick Vieira. His first game back in charge was a 2–1 win over
Leicester City on 1 April, ending Palace's 13-match winless run with their first win of the calendar year. Hodgson went on to keep the club well away from relegation, winning five and drawing three of his 10 matches back in charge to ensure they finished in eleventh place. On 3 July 2023, Hodgson agreed to stay on as Crystal Palace's manager for the
coming season, after signing a new one-year deal. On 12 February 2024, Hodgson's 200th (and, as it turned out, final) game in charge of the club saw a 1–3 home defeat to London rivals
Chelsea. This left Palace 15th in the Premier League table, five points above the relegation zone, having won six of their previous 24 matches and lost 10 of their past 16 Premier League games at that point in the
2023–24 season. On 15 February, amidst reports he was on the verge of being dismissed and replaced by
Oliver Glasner, Hodgson was taken to hospital after being taken ill during a training session. The club confirmed on 19 February that Hodgson had stepped down as manager, and was replaced by Glasner.
Return to Bristol City On 27 March 2026, Hodgson returned to Bristol City as their manager for the remainder of the
2025–26 season, replacing
Gerhard Struber. ==Personal life==