The Impossible Job Trivia Quiz

(1946-62, 139 games)
Prior to the appointment of Winterbottom to the manager's role, England's national team was controlled by a selection committee with a series of trainers and the on-field captain being mainly responsible for tactical decisions. Winterbottom was appointed to the newly created role of manager immediately after World War II despite having made just 26 appearances in his career as a part-time professional for Manchester United and having no managerial experience. His role put him in charge of coaching and tactics but the selection committee kept the responsibility for picking the team.

Winterbottom had some impressive achievements in his time leading England including being the first manager to lead England to a World Cup finals tournament in 1950. He was also the first manager worldwide to lead his country in four World Cups, the team reaching the quarter finals in both 1954 and 1962.

He also had a profound affect on coaching in England, a previously sneered at activity. He had a background as a teacher and used this to design coaching courses and FA badges on which many of his successors would cut their teeth.

(1962-74, 113 games, 1 World Cup win)
Ramsey succeeded Winterbotttom as England manager in 1962 and, thanks to the lobbying of his predecessor, was the first manager allowed to select his teams himself. Ramsey had played for England as a full back under Winterbottom's management, captaining the side on three occasions. After his playing career with Southampton and Tottenham came to an end, Ramsey went into management with Ipswich Town, leading them from the third tier of the league to winning the league title in their very first season in the top flight just six years later.

He was similarly successful with England. Known for being a thoughtful and innovative tactician, he introduced a style known as "the wingless wonders" to the national team, with the wide players more tucked in and narrow than the usual prevailing style. The tactics delivered England their first World Cup title with victory at home in 1966. Four years later, with a team many considered to be even better, England lost at the quarter final stage to West Germany. Ramsey's time in the job came to an end in 1974 after England failed to qualify for that year's World Cup after drawing at home to Poland.

(2016-24, 102 games, 2 Euro finals)
Southgate took over the England manager role in 2016 with the country's team at a very low ebb. An embarrassingly early exit in the European Championships in the summer had followed a group stage departure in the 2014 World Cup. And then the one game reign of Sam Allardyce had left the FA in turmoil. Southgate was the easy appointment as he was already an FA employee as the manager of the England under-21 side and had previously been the head of elite player development at the organisation. His initial appointment was temporary, given just four games to oversee, while the FA looked for a permanent replacement. After two wins and two draws in his temporary spell, Southgate was given a four-year contract.

Southgate achieved greater success in international competitions than any manager before him except for Sir Alf Ramsey. In his first tournament, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, England reached the semi-finals with a run that included their first win in a penalty shoot-out for 22 years - a particularly sweet victory for Southgate who had missed the crucial penalty in a shoot-out in England's last tournament semi-final in 1996. An extra-time defeat to Croatia and another defeat to Belgium saw England finish fourth.

Three years later Southgate took England to their first ever European Championship final, an achievement that his team matched another three years later. Sadly for Southgate, England lost both finals to Italy and to Spain and after the second of those defeats, he resigned from the role.

(1982-90, 95 games, 1 World Cup semi-final)
Robson had a successful club managerial career both before England and afterwards, winning trophies with clubs in four different countries -- Ipswich Town, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Porto. Sadly, he was not able to add a trophy during his eight years in charge of the England team.

He didn't have the most promising start, failing to qualify for the 1984 European Championship but got the team to the Mexico World Cup two years later. Despite a shaky start, the goals of Gary Lineker propelled the team to the quarter finals where they were undone by the genius (and the deviousness) of Diego Maradona. A disastrous European Championships followed in 1988 but his final tournament helped to resurrect his bruised reputation.

Inspired by the imaginative and highly skilled Paul Gascoigne in midfield, England topped a tight group before despatching Belgium and Cameroon in knockout games to set up a semi-final with tournament favourites, West Germany. England were arguably the better side in the game but it ended with the sides level and England lost on penalties in a game that inspired the quote from striker Gary Lineker that "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans win."

(2001-06, 67 games, 2 World Cup quarter finals) Erikkson was the first non-Englishman to be appointed manager of the English national football team. Though the players he had available to him as manager were described as a "golden generation", Eriksson's England were unable to get past the quarter finals of any major tournament, falling at that hurdle in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2004 European Championships.

The highlight of Eriksson's tenure came early when England pulled off a spectacular 5-1 win in Munich against a Germany side that had previously only ever lost one World Cup qualifier in its history.

(2012-16, 56 games)
When Hodgson was given the England job in 2012, it was not his first foray into international football management. He had previously managed Finland,the UAE and Switzerland, who he took to their first major tournament in 28 years, the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

His time with England was not a success however. Taking over after the resignation of Fabio Capello, his first competitive fixtures were in the Euro 2012 finals. Reaching the quarter finals, where they lost to Italy, was seen as a decent effort. But his two subsequent tournaments were anything but. Though England qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil well enough, defeats in their first two games to Italy and Uruguay meant England were out earlier than at any previous World Cup finals. The chance for redemption came at Euro 2016 but after an unconvincing group stage, England were beaten by Iceland in the last 16, a result widely viewed as England's worst in more than 60 years. It was to be Hodgson's last game in charge.

(1977-82, 55 games)
Like Gareth Southgate, Greenwood came into the England job initially as a caretaker manager. He was appointed on a temporary basis after the resignation of Don Revie in 1977, whilst continuing in his role as General Manager at West Ham United, the only club he had ever managed. Greenwood took over England with two games left of qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Despite winning both matches, including victory over top of the table Italy, England missed out on qualification for the finals.

Given the role full-time at the end of 1977, Greenwood did take England to qualification for the 1980 European Championships in Italy, where they were eliminated at the group stage. He also saw them through to the 1982 World Cup in Spain, England's first qualification for that tournament in 12 years. England remained unbeaten throughout the World Cup finals but after 0-0 draws with hosts Spain and eventual finalists West Germany, England were knocked out at the second group stage. After the tournament, Greenwood resigned as England manager and retired from football.

(2007-12, 42 games)
Fabio Capello was appointed England manager following the side's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. Having won multiple trophies with multiple teams in Italy and Spain, it was hoped that Capello could whip England's underperforming players into shape.

The qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup suggested that Capello might be a success as England scored more goals than any other team in Europe in the campaign. But in the finals in South Africa, England struggled, winning just one game before they were eliminated 4-1 by Germany in the second round. Capello took England through qualifying for the subsequent European Championships but quit the job before the finals came around after a dispute over his choice of captain.

(1990-93, 38 games)
Appointed as a manager at Lincoln City at the age of just 28, Taylor gained an impressive reputation as a manager by guiding Watford from the Fourth Division to the First in just five years. In their first ever season in England's top flight they came runners-up to Liverpool and followed that achievement up by reaching their first FA Cup Final a year later.

Taylor's time with England was sadly less stellar. His team qualified for Euro 92 in Sweden but failed to win a game and were eliminated in the group stage. Worse was to follow when England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup and Taylor's time in charge was over.

(1974-77, 29 games)
Revie had the unenviable task of taking over from Sir Alf Ramsey, albeit after a brief caretaker spell from Joe Mercer. He had just won the league title for the second time with Leeds United and was at the peak of his powers. However, he was unable to translate his successes to the international stage, ending his tenure as one of the rare England managers to have never qualified for a single tournament, failing to reach the 1976 European Championships and quitting before the end of the 1978 World Cup qualification, which also ended in failure.

His relationship with the FA ended acrimoniously when Revie secretly negotiated a new role as manager of the UAE national team. When he then announced his departure through a national newspaper, the FA threw the book at him and banned him from football for ten years, a sanction that was overturned in the law courts.

Lauded in his playing career as a creative and intelligent football player, Hoddle brought many of those qualities to his managerial career. Appointed England manager in 1996 in the wake of the team's strong showing at Euro 96, Hoddle managed England to qualification for the 1998 World Cup in France. England's campaign at the tournament was notable for Hoddle's controversial omission of midfielder Paul Gascoigne from the squad and the emergence of a new young superstar in Michael Owen. The tournament ultimately ended in disappointment though when England lost, once again on penalties, to Argentina in the second round.

Hoddle took charge of the qualification campaign for Euro 2000 but amid disappointing performances, he was sacked before its end when comments he made in a newspaper interview regarding the disabled were published.

"El Tel" as he was affectionately known following a stint as manager of Barcelona, was appointed England manager in 1994 following England's failure to qualify for the World Cup in the USA under Graham Taylor. His tenure was brief but memorable. As England automatically qualified for Euro 96 as hosts, the majority of Venables matches in charge were friendlies but he used them effectively, establishing a tactical style of football that was progressive and made the most of the talent available to him. His one tournament saw England reach the semi-finals of the Euros, even winning a penalty shoot-out en route, although spot kicks were once again to be the team's undoing in the semi-final against Germany.

Venables had announced his intention to resign as manager at the end of the tournament because of a legal matter that he wanted to concentrate on and also because of the perceived lack of faith that the FA had shown in him by deciding to wait to see how England performed in the Euros before offering a contract extension.

As a player Kevin Keegan had won league titles in two countries, three European trophies and had twice been named European Footballer of the Year. As a manager he had been a talismanic leader at Newcastle United, guiding them from the bottom half of the second tier of English football to within a whisker of the Premier League title.

He took over the England job in 1999 after Glenn Hoddle was sacked and revived their bid for qualification for Euro 2000, eventually succeeding in a play-off against Scotland. But England performed poorly in the tournament, winning just one game and departing at the group stage. When England's qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup began with a home defeat to Germany, in the last game to be played at the original Wembley stadium, Keegan resigned, stating that he knew the time was right to quit as he didn't want to outstay his welcome.

McClaren established his reputation as an outstanding tactical coach during his time as number two to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, with the club winning the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in his first season. A move into management with Middlesbrough came a couple of years later and after he took them to their first ever major trophy win in the UEFA Cup he emerged as the FA's choice to succeed Sven-Goran Erikkson when he stood down as England manager.

McClaren stated his intention to take England in a new direction and dropped several senior players from the Erikkson era from his England squads, including former captain David Beckham. However, results were not strong and left England struggling to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament. A U-turn saw Beckham recalled and results improved to the extent that England went into their final game at home to Croatia knowing a draw would be enough to qualify. But England failed to gain the draw required as a 3-2 defeat in the game combined with results elsewhere meant England missed out on the Euros finals for the first time in 24 years. McClaren was sacked the next day.

On the plus side, Allardyce was the first permanent manager to leave the England job with a 100% win record but his fall from grace was embarrassing and entirely self-inflicted. Allardyce had long coveted the job following a long and successful career in club management with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and West Ham United. He was appointed England manager following the resignation of Roy Hodgson after the Euro 2016 debacle.

His first and only game in charge was a World Cup qualifier at home to Slovakia. England won the game 1-0 but just 23 days later, Allardyce was forced to resign after being caught up in a "Football for Sale" corruption scandal, in which he was filmed telling a disguised journalist how to circumvent FA and FIFA rules on player ownership.