Hodgson appointed as England coach

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

LONDON: Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager on a four-year contract, the Football Association announced today.

The West Bromwich Albion boss emerged as the surprise front-runner for the England job on Sunday as the FA confirmed it had ignored the popular clamour for Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp to be appointed. Ahead of a scheduled press conference at Wembley, the FA issued a statement saying: "The Football Association is delighted to announce the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager. Joining from West Bromwich Albion, Hodgson has agreed a four-year deal to become the full-time manager of the Three Lions."

Hodgson held around four hours of discussions with senior FA officials on Monday, paving the way for the 64-year-old's appointment to the most demanding role in English football. Since Italian coach Fabio Capello resigned as England manager in February, in protest at the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, Stuart Pearce has been in caretaker charge of the national side.

That is despite the former England defender also being the manager of England's Under-21s and the British Olympic team. Concerns have been raised about the FA's 'delay' in getting a permanent manager close to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, where England begin the tournament against France in Donetsk on June 11.

Hodgson's first game will be the warm-up match away to Norway in Oslo on May 26 followed by another friendly, with Belgium at Wembley, before Euro 2012. The FA said Hodgson would see out the current Premier League campaign with West Brom, who have two games left to play.