Most successful England managers

Known as 'The Impossible Job', managing England comes with its highs and lows.

Previous Three Lions bosses have had the luxury of some of the most talented international squads available, but with that comes often unbearable expectation.

Since the position of 'England manager' was introduced after the Second World War, 15 men have held the role on a full-time, permanent basis, all with varying degrees of success.

Here's a look at how they all stack up against each other.

15. Sam Allardyce (2016)

Sam Allardyce was England manager for a little over two months and oversaw just a single game in 2016, leaving the role by mutual consent after he was secretly filmed allegedly trying to cut inappropriate deals with fake businessmen from Asia.

His only game in the dugout was England’s first qualifier for the 2018 World Cup, with a late Adam Lallana goal the difference against Slovakia. It means he has a 100% winning record as England manager, but his time at the helm was comically short due to his off-field behaviour.

14. Steve McClaren (2006- 2007)

After serving as an assistant manager under predecessor Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren immediately looked to make changes to the England squad, starting with leaving popular and long-serving captain David Beckham and other senior players out in the cold.

His attempt to qualify for Euro 2008 was nothing short of a disaster. England dropped seven points in the first five games and were left needing to beat an already qualified Croatia at home on the final matchday to reach the finals ahead of Russia. They failed and McClaren was quickly gone.

13. Graham Taylor (1990 - 1993)

Graham Taylor's time as England manager started relatively positively after an unbeaten run that lasted 12 games and nearly a full year, but it all went quickly downhill as 1991 became 1992. The Three Lions were dumped out of Euro' 92 without a win, while England only won four of 11 games in 1993.

The national team missed out on the 1994 World Cup and what made it all the more worse for the late Taylor, who passed away in 2017, was that his failure, including meltdowns, was captured for all to see in the infamous fly-on-the-wall documentary, 'An Impossible Job'.

He is far more revered as a club manager of Watford and Aston Villa.

12. Don Revie (1974 - 1977)

Don Revie was handed the reins of the national team after making Leeds United a real powerhouse of English football within the space of a few years. Under his guidance, England won the 1974/75 British Home Championship, but finished as low as third in 1976/77.

Revie's England had also failed to make it to the final tournament at the 1976 European Championships and in 1977 he signed a lucrative contract to take over the United Arab Emirates national team. The FA accused him of bringing the game into disrepute as a result and issued a 10-year ban from football, later overturned upon appeal in court.

11. Kevin Keegan (1999 - 2000)

Unfortunately for Kevin Keegan, he is the owner of the lowest win percentage of any full-time England manager.

A hero as a player and club boss, his time in charge of the national team left a lot to be desired with a group stage exit at Euro 2000. Keegan then quit in October 2000 immediately after losing against Germany in the last ever game played at the old Wembley.

10. Roy Hodgson (2012 - 2016)

Roy Hodgson assumed control of the England team just a month before Euro 2012 was due to begin. He seemed a logical choice as a respected veteran coach who had overachieved with West Brom in his most recent job. Yet despite strong qualifying performances, his tournament record was poor to say the least.

Failure at the 2014 World Cup, finishing bottom of a tough group, was then trumped by what many believe to be the worst England performance in 70 years of major tournaments against Iceland at Euro 2016

9. Glenn Hoddle (1996 - 1999)

Glenn Hoddle picked up the reins after a successful Euro '96 on home soil and was tipped to take things on in the subsequent years with a very talented squad featuring rising young stars like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and others.

His only tournament ended in penalty shootout heartbreak against Argentina in 1998, but his fate was ultimately determined by an off-field issue regarding derogatory comments about disabled people.

8. Ron Greenwood (1977 - 1982)

Having firmly established himself as a legend during 13 years as West Ham boss, Ron Greenwood took over an England side in 1977 halfway through World Cup qualifying. Despite two wins in the final two games he was unable to steer the team to the finals in Argentina.

England were strong at the British Home Championships under the guidance of Greenwood and returned to the World Cup in 1982 for the first time in 12 years. However, the Euros in 1980 were a disappointment.

7. Fabio Capello (2008 - 2012)

Only the second foreign manager to hold the position, Fabio Capello assumed control after the miserable failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The no-nonsense Italian's influence was immediately clear and England dropped just three points en-route to the 2010 World Cup.

Unfortunately for Capello, his very firm approach appeared too much when it got to the tournament itself and England wilted in South Africa. He later oversaw qualification for Euro 2012 but resigned under a cloud a few months before the tournament after disagreeing with the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.

6. Sven Goran Eriksson (2001 - 2006)

Sven Goran Eriksson, England's first ever foreign manager, wasn't often looked upon very fondly when he was in charge of the team, yet he actually achieved far more than most of his successors in the years since his departure.

But for pre-tournament injuries to David Beckham, Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard, and a freak goal against Brazil, many wonder if Eriksson's England could have won the World Cup in 2002. Injury to Wayne Rooney at Euro 2004 was another blow to his chances of success later on.

5. Walter Winterbottom (1946 - 1962)

Walter Winterbottom is both the first man to be placed in the role of England manager after the position was first created in 1946, and the individual to have held the job the longest, leading the Three Lions in as many as 139 games over the course of 16 years.

Winterbottom reached two World Cup quarter finals and was very successful in the British Home Championships, but was ultimately hamstrung by having to cede selection powers to a special committee that picked the players for him.

4. Terry Venables (1994 - 1996)

Terry Venables restored faith to the England national team after an underwhelming Euro '92 and the failure to even qualify for the 1994 World Cup. England began Euro '96 on home soil with an underwhelming draw against Switzerland, but the team then started to win and captured the imagination of a nation.

Venables got the best out of the players at his disposal. The 4-1 annihilation of the Netherlands remains one of the all-time great England performances, while he is one of only two England managers to have experienced victory in a penalty shootout.

3. Bobby Robson (1982 - 1990)

An always likeable individual, Bobby Robson was until 2018 the last man to take England to the semi-finals of a World Cup and will forever be fondly remembered for everything he achieved in his managerial career as a whole.

Having been beaten only by an inspired Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup, a penalty shootout was then the difference as Robson's 1990 squad fell just short of replicating the heroes of 1966. Euro '88 was a blot on an otherwise relatively healthy tournament record.

2. Gareth Southgate (2016 - present)

Despite a relative lack of managerial experience, Gareth Southgate was promoted from the role of Under-21 boss after Sam Allardyce’s swift departure and was soon given the job full-time. His team then qualified well for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Southgate oversaw England’s first knockout win at a major tournament in 12 years, as well as a first penalty shootout win since 1996, as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals against Croatia.

He then became the first men's team manager to guide England to a major tournament final since the 1966 triumph, although his side agonisingly lost on penalties to Italy in the showpiece event at Euro 2020.

1. Alf Ramsey (1963 - 1974)

Alf Ramsey was appointed in 1963 and had soon declared that England would win the World Cup three years later, a statement he later admitted he made without any particular reason other than his own belief. The fact that he did it is enough to label Sir Alf as all-time number one.

The former Tottenham defender made sure he wasn't hampered by the same selection problems that plagued predecessor Walter Winterbottom and insisted that he must be allowed to pick the players that best fitted his system and not simply the best individuals. It was a tactic that saw the likes of World Cup heroes Jack Charlton, Nobby Stiles and even Geoff Hurst given a chance that might not otherwise have come.

​*Only full-time managers and not caretakers have been included, explaining the absence of Joe Mercer (1974), Howard Wilkinson (1999, 2000), Peter Taylor (2000) and Stuart Pearce (2012).

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