Born: Croydon, 9 August 1947
Position: Defender
FULHAM MANAGERIAL CAREER
Managerial career: 30 December 2007-1 July 2010.
Games managed: 128
Games won: 50
Games drawn: 32
Games lost: 46
Win percentage: 39.1%
Honours: UEFA Europa League runners-up (2009-2010).
What can you possibly say about Roy Hodgson? Eyebrows were raised when he was announced as the successor to Lawrie Sanchez at Craven Cottage with Fulham already considered relegation certainties at Christmas in 2007. Not only did Hodgson, with a point to prove after failing in England previously at Blackburn Rovers, pull off a magical Great Escape, but he guided Fulham to seventh in the Premier League – and most remarkably of all – the Europa League final. That he did it all without any star names and an emphasis on old-fashioned hard work and tactical discipline made his achievements all the more impressive. Fulham, who had knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg, on the way to the final were heartbreakingly beaten by an all-star Atletico Madrid outfit at the end of extra time. That proved to be Hodgson’s last game in charge – he left for an ill-fated spell in charge of Liverpool a month later.
