January 18 – Phil Neville has left his role as manager of the England women’s national team with immediate effect ahead of a switch to the men’s game as coach of David Beckham’s Major League Soccer side Inter Miami.
Neville led England to the Women’s World Cup semi-finals in 2019 but the English FA has released him from his contract after being informed he was in talks with Miami.
Neville’s England spell was due to come to an end in July anyway, after the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, with the Netherlands coach, Sarina Wiegman starting work as his successor from September.
But the latest news means an interim coach will have to be appointed take an all-British women’s squad to Tokyo where, ironically, Wiegman will be in charge of her own national team.
“It has been an honour to manage England and I have enjoyed three of the best years of my career with The FA and the Lionesses,” Neville said in a statement.
“The players who wear the England shirt are some of the most talented and dedicated athletes I have ever had the privilege to work with. They have challenged me and improved me as a coach, and I am very grateful to them for the fantastic memories we have shared.”
The FA statement made no mention of the Inter Miami job in its own statement.
“After steadying the ship at a challenging period, he helped us to win the SheBelieves Cup for the first time, reach the World Cup semi-finals and qualify for the Olympics,” said Sue Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football.
“Given his status as a former Manchester United and England player, he did much to raise the profile of our team.
“He has used his platform to champion the women’s game, worked tirelessly to support our effort to promote more female coaches and used his expertise to develop many of our younger players.”
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