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Sam Allardyce leaves England manager job after one game in charge Sam Allardyce leaves England manager job after one game in charge
(about 1 hour later)
Sam Allardyce’s tenure as the England manager has been terminated after 67 days in charge following allegations he had offered advice on how to circumvent the Football Association’s rules on player transfers. Sam Allardyce, who had insisted he could succeed where so many others had failed in making England a force again in world football, has lost his job in the aftermath of an undercover newspaper investigation.
Allardyce, who had suggested the national manager’s role was his “dream job” on his appointment as Roy Hodgson’s successor in July, has left his position by mutual consent after two months and one game, the World Cup qualifying win over Slovakia. He and his agent, Mark Curtis, attended a meeting with the FA’s chairman, Greg Clarke, and the chief executive, Martin Glenn, at Wembley stadium on Tuesday with the hierarchy having been left dismayed by comments the 61-year-old had made to undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph. Allardyce, who was appointed England manager 67 days ago after the national side’s Euro 2016 humiliation, had described the role as his dream job.
Allardyce today confirmed he had offered a “sincere and wholehearted apology for my actions” before his departure. But the former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United manager now finds himself hugely embarrassed after his departure was announced on Tuesday night, despite leaving with a 100% record following an unconvincing 1-0 victory against Slovakia in his only international match in charge.
An FA statement read: “The FA can confirm Sam Allardyce has left his position as England manager. Allardyce’s conduct, as reported today, was inappropriate of the England manager. He accepts he made a significant error of judgment and has apologised. However, due to the serious nature of his actions, the FA and Allardyce have mutually agreed to terminate his contract with immediate effect. Allardyce’s future was thrown into doubt on Monday night when the Telegraph published the results of an undercover investigation that showed him negotiating a fee of £400,000 to represent an overseas firm that was hoping to profit from Premier League transfers, before he had even named his first squad.
“This is not a decision that was taken lightly but the FA’s priority is to protect the wider interests of the game and maintain the highest standards of conduct in football. The manager of the England men’s senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong leadership and show respect for the integrity of the game at all times. A dramatic day began with the FA chief executive, Martin Glenn, and the newly appointed chairman, Greg Clarke, arriving at Wembley for a series of crisis meetings, as Allardyce set off for Wembley from his Bolton home. It ended with news filtering out to the media crews huddled outside that a “deeply disappointed” Allardyce had agreed to quit by “mutual consent”. He will be replaced for the next four matches, against Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain, by the under-21 manager, Gareth Southgate.
“Gareth Southgate will take charge of the men’s senior team for the next four matches against Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain while the FA begins its search for the new England manager. The FA wishes Sam well in the future.” Alongside a general impression of greed that will not have played well with fans or an FA workforce that has recently undergone a round of redundancies, there were specific issues in the taped conversations that the FA felt it could not ignore.
Allardyce, who was contracted through to the 2018 World Cup finals, had been filmed appearing to offer advice to the undercover reporters on how to circumvent the FA’s rules on player transfers. The Daily Telegraph released the relevant transcripts from two meetings, held in Manchester and London over the past month, to the FA with a contrite Allardyce understood to have conceded his position had been left untenable. Allardyce also offered advice on how to “get around” the FA’s own regulations on third-party ownership, was disparaging about his predecessor Roy Hodgson’s speech impediment, said that assistant Gary Neville should “sit down and shut up”, and criticised the FA’s “stupid” -Wembley redevelopment.
Southgate had been reluctant to take up the helm in the summer, when he considered himself to be lacking in the relevant experience for the job, but will stand in with just five days remaining before Allardyce was expected to announce his squad for the forthcoming games. While some of those remarks could have been explained away as embarrassing indiscretions, the advice on circumventing the FA’s own transfer regulations was particularly problematic ahead of a week in which it may be forced to announce investigations into other elements of the Telegraph’s revelations.
The former Sunderland, Bolton and West Ham manager, accompanied by Curtis and his financial adviser Shane Moloney, had been recorded commenting on a variety of subjects from England players to regulations, Hodgson and the FA’s decision to redevelop Wembley stadium. “Allardyce’s conduct, as reported today, was inappropriate of the England manager. He accepts he made a significant error of judgment and has apologised,” the FA said in a statement.
It was his comments on third-party ownership, and whether he was offering advice on bypassing “ridiculous” FA and Fifa rules, which have caused real alarm. He is filmed telling the undercover reporters, posing as businessmen, it was “not a problem” to get around FA rules imposed in 2008 that prevent parties “owning” players’ economic rights. Fifa has since adopted a similar stance. “However, due to the serious nature of his actions, the FA and Allardyce have mutually agreed to terminate his contract with immediate effect. This is not a decision that was taken lightly, but the FA’s priority is to protect the wider interests of the game and maintain the highest standards of conduct in football. The manager of the England men’s senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong leadership and show respect for the integrity of the game at all times.”
He stated an unnamed group had been “doing it for years” and “you can still get around it” suggesting they employ the player’s agents to compensate for the fact they are no longer allowed to profit from each transfer directly. “You get a percentage of the player’s agent’s fee that the agent pays to you, the company, because he’s done that new deal at the club again or they sell him on, and you’re not getting a part of the transfer fee any more, because you can’t do that,” he is filmed explaining. “But, you get, because of the size of the contracts now, the contract will be worth £30m, £40m, at 10% and you’ve done a deal with the agent where you’re getting 5% of the agent’s fee, which is massive for doing about two hours’ work.” Allardyce said he was “deeply disappointed” after offering a “sincere and wholehearted apology” for his actions.
Allardyce released a statement on Tuesday night which read: “Further to recent events, The FA and I have mutually agreed to part company. It was a great honour for me to be appointed back in July and I am deeply disappointed at this outcome. “Although it was made clear during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need the FA’s full approval, I recognise I made some comments which have caused embarrassment,” Allardyce said. “As part of today’s meeting, I was asked to clarify what I said and the context in which the conversations took place. I have co-operated fully in this regard.”
“This afternoon, I met with Greg Clarke and Martin Glenn and offered a sincere and wholehearted apology for my actions. If the manner of Allardyce’s “mutually agreed” exit – a day of fevered speculation that ended in an outcome that felt increasingly inevitable – did not feel unusual in taking its place among a string of similarly premature and controversial departures by some of his predecessors, then the length of his reign certainly was.
“Although it was made clear during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need The FA’s full approval, I recognise I made some comments which have caused embarrassment. The 61-year-old said in July he was “extremely honoured” and promised to return the feelgood factor to an England setup demoralised by a Euro 2016 defeat to Iceland that led to the departure of Hodgson. Handed a £3m-a-year contract, plus bonuses, he said he had fulfilled his lifetime’s ambition by taking over as England manager. But he leaves with the unwanted record of the shortest managerial reign for a permanent appointee.
“As part of today’s meeting, I was asked to clarify what I said and the context in which the conversations took place. I have co-operated fully in this regard. I also regret my comments with regard to other individuals.” The FA said it had turned to Allardyce following a “comprehensive and structured” process led by Glenn but also including vice-chairman, David Gill, and technical director, Dan Ashworth. Clarke, the former Football League chairman who took the same role at the FA in August, was not involved in the decision to appoint Allardyce and was believed to take a particularly dim view of the revelations.
Allardyce earned around £3m-a-year, plus bonuses on the contract he signed in July that was to run up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and appeared to be using his position to negotiate a £400,000 deal to address investors in a south-east Asia firm. The England manager had stressed he would “have to run it past the powers that be” before committing to any deal. If Southgate impresses he could take the job on a permanent basis, with the FA keen to develop more of a co-ordinated approach across its teams.