Roy Hodgson

Hodgson was a moderately successful youth player with Crystal Palace, but was never able to break into the first team. After leaving Crystal Palace he played non-league football for several years with Tonbridge and Gravesend & Northfleet. At the age of 23, he completed training to gain his full coaching badge. He then joined Maidstone United, where he played and also served as assistant manager to Bob Houghton.

Halmstad

Hodgson started his managerial career in 1976 at Allsvenskan side Halmstad, having been recommended by then-Malmö manager Bob Houghton. Hodgson spent five years at Halmstad, winning the league championship in 1976 and 1979. His success with Halmstad in 1976 is considered one of the biggest surprises of all time in Swedish football. 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."

Bristol City

In 1980, Hodgson moved to Bristol City in his native England, where he was assistant manager to Bob Houghton from 1980 to 1982 and manager from January to April 1982. Due to the club's financial problems he was largely unsuccessful and was dismissed after four months in charge. Commenting later on his time at Bristol City, Hodgson said: "Bristol City was nothing short of a disaster in that we had only been there for a matter of weeks before the banks started to pull the rug from underneath the club. My job when I eventually took over, as caretaker manager, was quite simply to carry on in the aftermath of all the players leaving the club and just fulfilling the fixtures."

Oddevold, Örebro

In 1982, Hodgson moved back to Sweden to take over second-tier side Oddevold part-way through the 1982 season. Hodgson could not save…

Hodgson was born in Croydon, Surrey. His mother was a baker in the town, and his father, Bill, a Newcastle United fan, worked as a bus driver south of the River Thames. Hodgson's family lived in the same building as Steve Kember, one of Hodgson's schoolmates at John Ruskin Grammar School. The two played in the school football team, a side which also included Lennie Lawrence. Bob Houghton, who would go on to play a prominent part in Hodgson's career, joined the school in the sixth form.

Hodgson is married to Sheila, and together they have a son, Christopher. As of 2014, the couple resided in Chelsea, London. Hodgson is multilingual: in addition to his native English, he speaks fluent Swedish, German, Italian and French. He enjoys reading and is known to be a fan of the authors Sebastian Faulks, John Updike, Philip Roth and Saul Bellow. Although Hodgson played for Berea Park in South Africa's white-only National Football League during the 1970s, he has stated his admiration for Nelson Mandela and coached a World XI team in a charity football event in Mandela's honour in August 1999. Upon his appointment as the manager of England's national football team in May 2012, he was asked about his time during the apartheid era; he stated that he only played in South Africa for footballing reasons, as did his teammates at the club and not because of a political belief. Hodgson was made a Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland in September 2012. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of York on 22 January 2016. In 2018, Hodgson was made a Freeman of the Borough of Croydon. He was made a Commander of the Order of British Empire (CBE) in 2022, receiving his medal from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, the president of the Football Association. He reflected: "I think when you are recognised by your country for services to the sport that you've loved and served, I think you've got to regard that as the ultimate accolade". On 20 October…