Over England’s 999 international matches, 15 different full-time bosses have taken charge of the Three Lions for at least one game.
Admittedly, some have been much more memorable than others and some have held the reigns of England’s most important job for a long time, in contrast to others – we’re looking at you, Sam Allardyce.
Some have led this great nation to the latter stages of major tournaments before coming up just short off the mark, whilst a fair few have failed to even qualify in the first place.
And only one has ever led us to glory on the biggest of stages.
But looking back, how do they all rank from worst to best when we size them up?
Ahead of Gareth Southgate’s men’s 1000th international against Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday 14 November, we take a look…
15. Kevin Keegan
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Coming in at 15 is Three Lions playing great Kevin Keegan, who took charge of the team between February 1999 and October 2000.
Unfortunately, Keegan’s time as Three Lions boss wasn’t quite as successful as his 10-year playing stint for his nation as he finished up with a win percentage of just 38.9 (the worst of any full-time England manager), despite guiding the side to a major tournament in the form of the 2002 UEFA European Championship.
14. Sam Allardyce
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Sam Allardyce currently possesses the best win percentage of any Three Lions gaffer with a flawless 100% – he would have snapped your hand off for that had you offered him it when he replaced Roy Hodgson in summer 2016.
What Allardyce wouldn’t have wanted, however, was for his tenure to last just one match, a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Slovakia. Thus was before he left his role by mutual consent following the infamous “pint of wine” video – one can only wonder what could have been.
13. Steve McClaren
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Largely branded the worst manager in England’s history, it’s often forgotten that Steve McClaren’s Three Lions win ratio stands at a respectable 50%.
However, it’s difficult for most to see past the night that brought his stint at Wembley crashing down like a house of cards, defeat to Croatia when only a draw was needed for qualification to EURO 2008. He will forever be remembered as “a Wally with a Brolly.”
12. Don Revie
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After years of success at Leeds United, Don Revie assumed the England position in 1974 and would hold onto it for three years before quitting due to the aggravation of the job.
In spite of winning a trophy in the 1974-75 British Home Championship, Revie failed to qualify for the 1976 European Championship and could only record 14 victories in the 29 games he presided over in the most important job in England.
11. Graham Taylor
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Along with the likes of McClaren, Graham Taylor tends to go down in the list of more forgettable Three Lions gaffers but did still achieve something in his reign, qualification to a European Championship – something England had only achieved twice in the 20 years previous.
Although the chop would await the Watford legend just a couple of years later when his talented team underperformed in 1994 World Cup qualifying and never made it to USA ’94. Like Revie, Taylor lasted just three years.
10. Roy Hodgson
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As we move into the top ten we find Roy Hodgson, a man who was rather plunged in at the deep end just before a major tournament when he took the reins from Fabio Capello.
The managerial journeyman did well at EURO 2012, however, qualifying for the knockout stages as group champions before a narrow exit at the hands of the soon-to-be finalists Italy in a penalty shootout.
But early elimination from the 2014 World Cup and embarrassment against Iceland at France 2016 made for Hodgson and his eye-catching 58.9% win ratio.
9. Glenn Hoddle
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A theme beginning to occur in this countdown is promising managers having their Three Lions tenures cut short by off-field matters and that couldn’t be truer in the case of 1996-1999 boss Glenn Hoddle.
The Tottenham Hotspur great’s England had shown some exciting signs at France ’98 despite being dumped out on penalties by Argentina in the round-of-16 but Hoddle’s sacking wasn’t too far around the corner as he was given his marching orders in early 1999 having claimed the disabled were being punished for sinning in their previous lives.
8. Ron Greenwood
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To the slightly less bizarre now and the legendary Ron Greenwood at number eight, a traditional gaffer tasked with picking up the pieces of Revie’s reign and returning the nation to the glories of the Sir Alf Ramsey era.
It took time for Greenwood to instigate some improvement for England, first by qualifying for a European Championship and then the second group phase of a World Cup before resigning and retiring in 1982 with a win percentage of 60.
He was also a trailblazer having picked England’s first black player Viv Anderson, famously saying “Yellow, purple or black – if they’re good enough, I’ll pick them.”
7. Fabio Capello
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Of Three Lions managers that have taken charge of more than one game, 2008-2012 gaffer Fabio Capello has the highest win percentage – a pretty impressive feat.
His tenure, whilst blighted by some bizarre selections including the likes of David Nugent and 33-year-old Kevin Davies, is a story of what could have been.
Could England have beaten Germany at the 2010 World Cup had Frank Lampard’s goal been allowed to stand and could Capello have at some point delivered that elusive second major tournament triumph had he not resigned over the John Terry racism scandal?
6. Sven-Goran Eriksson
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Although he could never get England’s golden generation to live up to their full potential, Sven-Goran Eriksson still only slimly misses out on a place in our top five.
The maverick Swede revolutionalised the way the Three Lions play football after replacing Keegan in 2001 and also recorded some of the country’s best major tournament finishes this decade by reaching the quarter-finals in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups as well as the 2004 European Championship – achieving then the best points percentage of any England boss in major tournaments.
His contract was terminated by mutual consent after the 2006 World Cup.
