Football: Roy Hodgson pens two-year contract with Crystal Palace; becomes seventh permanent manager of Palace in six years

September 15, 2017 On Tuesday, former manager of England's football team signed a two-year contract with London-based football club Crystal Palace, the club announced via their official website.

70-year-old Hodgson has about forty years as a football manager, and has managed fifteen clubs, and four countries' national teams. He has managed four clubs &mdash;, , Liverpool and , having 34.72 % win rate in Premier League. In 2011, he helped West Bromwich avoid relegation, and a year earlier, he helped Fulham to reach the final of the. Hodgson went on to manage. Under his management, The Three Lions reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Euro 2012. In 2014's FIFA World Cup, England were eliminated in the group stage, and last year, following 2–1 defeat against Iceland in Euro 2016, Roy Hodgson announced resignation from the post. Hodgson has won seven Swedish league titles, two Swedish cups, and one league title each in Switzerland and Denmark.

After penning the deal, Hodgson said, "This is very much the club of my boyhood and I remember in my youth watching the club from the terraces at the Holmesdale Road end which gave me such fond memories. In those days I had dreams of playing for the team, then as a coach you think about coaching the team and a lot has happened in between times." Regarding the poor start of the season, Hodgson said, "I don't honestly believe that there is necessarily a lot that needs to be done. You can always get off to a bad start, what we've got to remember is our fate will be decided after 38 games, not four."

Hodgson's predecessor 's three-year contract was terminated the day before Hodgson's hiring, after his fourth consecutive defeat in the English Premier League. Crystal Palace was yet to score a goal, and they were nineteenth in the league table. Hodgson is now the oldest permanent manager in the Premier League. He is also the seventh manager of Crystal Palace in the past six years.

Hodgson's first match as Crystal Palace's manager is to be an away match against, scheduled for tomorrow.