Source: FOOTYMAD
Roy Hodgson Fact File
A little bit of background info on Liverpool's next manager... Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) played for Crystal Palace, Tonbridge, Gravesend & Northfleet and finally Maidstone United where he became assistant manager. Despite a relatively unsuccessful playing career, Hodgson had a better managerial career. He led struggling Swedish side Halmstads BK to the league championship in 1976 and 1979, and was later quoted as saying "My greatest achievement would have to be the water-into-wine job at Halmstads." He had a brief spell as assistant manager and manager at Bristol City from 1980 to 1982 before returning to Sweden with Orebro. In 1985 he moved onto Malmo and led them to five consecutive league titles, two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups. His next move was to Switzerland, where he managed Neuchatel Xamax for two years. He was soon offered the Swiss National Coach job, going on to lead them to the World Cup Finals in 1994 and qualification for the Euros in 1996 before being snapped up by Italian giants Inter Milan. In the two years he managed Inter, the club finished 7th and 3rd in Serie A and were runners-up in the UEFA Cup Final. Blackburn Rovers turned to Hodgson to revive their fortunes after a slump under Ray Harford, but he had mixed fortunes at the club and made several poor signings. He was sacked in December 1998, a year and a half into his contract. After a brief return to Inter Milan as assistant manager, Hodgson had spells with Grasshoppers of Zurich, Copenhagen, Udinese, the United Arab Emirates, Norwegian side Viking and the Finland national side. In December 2007 he took over at Premier League strugglers Fulham and helped them avoid relegation before going onto finish 7th in their next season - the club's highest ever finish. In 2009/10 he built on the previous season's success and led Fulham to an amazing run in the Europa League, beating Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg en route to the final, which they lost to Atletico Madrid. Despite being linked with the England job following a poor performance by Fabio Capello's men in the World Cup Finals in South Africa, he has agreed to move to Liverpool in what is without doubt the biggest challenge of his career.
