What did former England managers do after leaving?

An era has come to an end. It was one that started with England in disarray and it concludes with the setup transformed and ready for success. Gareth Southgate brought hope back to the nation.

The ending to Southgate's tenure was a cruel one. A second European Championship final defeat, with Spain snatching the crown with four minutes left on the clock.

His time at the helm may not have ended in glory, but he will always be remembered for creating a healthy environment within the England camp. In turn, the results came with it, they just couldn't get over the line.

Now Southgate has to figure out what his next move is. Will he take an extended break away from the sport? Does club management beckon? Could he switch the dugout for the studio and become a pundit?

These questions may be running through his head already, but equally, Southgate might just want to relax after what was an intense summer in Germany. Either way, his life after England will be extremely different.

Many different England managers have come and gone over the years. Some were in the post years, while others were a flash in the pan. But all of them had to choose a path after the Three Lions.

Here at Mail Sport, we take a look at what the 10 England managers prior to Southgate did after they left the post. Maybe it will give the 53-year-old some ideas. 

Sir Bobby Robson

Some of the most exciting moments in English international football came under the stewardship of the great Sir Bobby Robson. Just like Southgate, he was a great man manager who rebuilt English football after a string of failures.

Robson took up the post in 1982 and endured a rocky start, with his England side failing to make Euro 1984. Sub-par results then followed at the 1986 World Cup, where the Three Lions were dumped out by Maradona's Argentina in the quarter-final and Euro 1988 where they were knocked out of the group.

However, Robson is fondly remembered for guiding the Three Lions to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. He came closest to bringing glory back home since Sir Alf Ramsey.

Prior to the tournament, Robson had already informed the FA that he would not renew his contract with the national team and would leave upon the conclusion of the World Cup.

Before England had even played their first match, news broke that Robson had agreed to become coach at Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, which did not best please the public. They soon forgave him.

Robson's quick transition back into club management proved fruitful. He won the Eredivisie in both the 1990-91 and 1991-92 campaigns, before hopping to Portugal to manage Sporting CP.  

Graham Taylor

The next man in the hot seat after Robson was Graham Taylor. After success in the 1990 World Cup, Taylor arrived with the unenviable task of trying to build on the platform Robson had given him. 

The task at hand proved too tough for Taylor, and his time at the helm is largely regarded as a failure. His England side failed to get out of the group stage at Euro 1992 and then came the disaster of 1993, where England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.

It took Taylor just six days to resign after the conclusion of their disappointing qualification campaign. He stated: 'If we didn't qualify, it was always my intention to offer my resignation.'

Unlike Robson before him, Taylor decided to take a break from the game following his resignation. It wasn't the longest of pauses, though, and he returned to club management with Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 1994.

Terry Venables

Not many England managers were adored quite as much as Terry Venables was. He may have only held the post for two years during his wonderful career in management.

Affectionately known as 'El Tel', Venables took England on an incredible ride during Euro 1996 which nearly culminated in glory.

However, his Three Lions suffered a devastating defeat in the semi-final to Germany via penalties. Despite the defeat, he gave England fans memories that they still cherish to this day.

Venables' departure from the England setup was actually announced six months prior to the tournament on home soil after the FA decided not to extend his contract. They cited that they would need to assess his performances at the Euros, so Venables decided to resign when it concluded.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona didn't take long to get back on the horse. He first took up the Director of Football position at Portsmouth, who were a second-tier side at the time, in July 1996.

However, only a few months passed before he couldn't handle being out of international management. In November 1996, he was appointed as the new manager of the Australian national side. 

Glenn Hoddle

The next man in the England dugout was Glenn Hoddle. His tenure will be remembered for his peculiarity more than anything. It started with him being appointed before Venables' side even kicked a ball at Euro 1996.

During two-and-a-half years in the job, Hoddle guided England to the 1998 World Cup, but despite all the talent in his side, they would underwhelmingly be eliminated by Argentina on penalties in the round of 16.

The fallout from the tournament led to Hoddle being criticised for his methods. He was a spiritual man and his ideology bled into his management. In 1999, he defended himself and his ideas in a interview with Matt Dickinson of the Times.

What transpired in that interview led to Hoddle having his contract terminated by the FA in February 1999 due to his bizarre religious beliefs.

Despite the circumstances in which his time as England boss came to an end, it took Hoddle less than a year to return to the dugout, but this time in club management. In January 2000, he took up the managerial position at Southampton.

He would only spend 13 months on the south coast before spells as boss at Tottenham Hostpur, where he 12 years as a player, and Wolves followed. 

Kevin Keegan

Just two weeks after Hoddle's dismissal, the FA turned to Kevin Keegan who left his role as Fulham manager to become England's new boss. His time in the job was as brief as it was disappointing.

Keegan could not have been more different than Hoddle. He jumped into the position with a skip in his step and the enthusiasm to bring success back to England after disappointment a year prior.

However, like many before him, he came up short. His England team suffered an embarrassing elimination in the group stages of Euro 2000. Keegan stayed on for a few more months, but in October of the same year, he stunned the nation by stepping down after a loss to Germany in World Cup qualifying.

Keegan did endure a short period out of the game, but like his predecessors, he decided to get back on the horse and tackle club management once more. In May 2001, he was appointed by Manchester City.

Keegan would spend four years at City in which he guided them back to the Premier League after relegation before his arrival, but in 2005 he would shock the footballing world yet again by retiring from football altogether.

He did have one more crack of the whip with Newcastle in 2008, unexpectedly returning to the game. But his second stint in the northeast would only last nine months and he has not been seen in a dugout since. 

Sven-Goran Eriksson

In the aftermath of Keegan's departure, the FA decided to take on a new approach when hiring his successor. In January 2001, they turned to Sven-Goran Eriksson who made history by becoming the first-ever non-British manager to take the reins of England.

With Eriksson's arrival came renewed optimism and a new era - the so-called 'Golden Generation'. The Swede guided the Three Lions to three successive tournament quarter-finals in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Off-the-field issues in the build-up to the World Cup were brought to attention and in January 2006 the FA announced that Eriksson would leave his post as manager after the tournament.

The Swedish manager would go on to take a leave of absence from the game for a year before cutting his teeth in the English game once more, but this time in the Premier League with Manchester City.

In January 2023, Eriksson would reveal to the world that he had terminal pancreatic cancer, meaning he had 'just one year left to live'.

Steve McClaren

Steve McClaren's stint as England boss will always remind people of an umbrella. The picture of the former Three Lions manager protecting himself from the rain as England's hopes of reaching Euro 2008 were crushed by Croatia.

It is an image that perfectly encapsulates McClaren's time at the helm. He arrived in August 2006 looking to reignite the generation before him that fell short of the success their talent warranted. Unfortunately for McClaren, he failed.

Just one day after England's miserable failure to reach the European Championship, he was sacked by the FA after only 16 months in charge.

In the aftermath of his disastrous spell as the Three Lions coach, McClaren decided to give punditry a go, working for the BBC as a co-commentator at the tournament he failed to guide England to.

Then in June 2008, McClaren would take up the post as manager in the Netherlands, at FC Twente. During his time at the club, he would guide them to their first-ever Eredivisie title.

However, his time with FC Twente would be mostly renowned for his hilarious attempt at mimicking a Dutch accent during an interview.  

Fabio Capello

When Fabio Capello arrived in England in December 2007, excitement swept the nation. Earlier that year, he guided Real Madrid to the La Liga title with a certain David Beckham in his side.

However, what transpired in his four-and-a-half years in the role is not what England fans had hoped for. In his only tournament in charge, the Three Lions were knocked out of the 2010 World Cup in the round of 16 by Germany.

Just four months before Euro 2012, Capello walked out on the England job, leaving the Three Lions' preparations for the tournament in tatters. His resignation was due to the FA stripping John Terry as captain and came as a huge shock to the governing body.

The Italian boss had the desire to stay in international management and was duly appointed as Russia manager in July of the same year as his England departure. He would last three years in the role before being sacked. 

Roy Hodgson

With the FA scrambling to find a replacement for Capello with Euro 2012 just months away, they turned to Roy Hodgson in May.

The beginning of Hodgson's career in the England hot seat was a baptism of fire. He had just two warm-up matches before the Euros began, meaning expectations were low among the Three Lions faithful.

He would guide them to the quarter-final stage before they were dumped out by Italy on penalties. A group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil followed before Euro 2016 happened. It's fair to say, it did not go too well.

The Three Lions were knocked out by minnows Iceland in the round of 16. It was a real low point in English football, and Hodgson duly resigned after the tournament amidst mass criticism from the media and fans alike.

The England job took its toll on Hodsgon, and he took a 15-month break from management. He couldn't stay away forever, though, and in September 2017, he took charge of Crystal Palace in the Premier League, where he rebuilt his reputation.

Sam Allardyce

Now we turn to the shortest tenure of any permanent England manager in the history of the job. Sam Allardyce lasted just 67 days in what was his 'dream' managerial role, which quickly turned into a nightmare.

Allardyce took charge of just a solitary match - a 1-0 win over Slovakia - before controversy struck. In September 2016, he left England by mutual consent due to inappropriate remarks made in a meeting that was uncovered by the Telegraph.

Allardyce took just three months to put the England debacle behind him, returning to management in December 2016, the same month Southgate was appointed permanently, with Palace.

Three managerial roles followed in the Premier League, but Allardyce has been without a job since a four-game stint as Leeds United boss in 2023.