Crystal Palace have announced Roy Hodgson will leave the club at the end of the season and the veteran boss says he will not manage in the top flight again.
The current terms of the 73-year-old’s deal will expire in the summer and he will depart Selhurst Park after the final match of the campaign against Liverpool on Sunday.
Hodgson, who started out as a manager in 1976 with Halmstad in Sweden, has overseen top-flight stability since he was summoned by the Eagles in September 2017 and has helped Palace become an established member of the Premier League.
Hodgson told cpfc.co.uk: “After more than 45 years of coaching I have decided that the time is right for me to step away from the rigours of top-flight Premier League football, so our final two matches will be my last ones as manager of Crystal Palace.
“It’s been a particularly rewarding period of my football life and career to have been able to spend these last four seasons with Palace. I feel now that at the end of another successful season, in which we have secured our Premier League status, the moment is right for me to step down from my responsibilities of being a full-time manager.
“I have had so much support from my wife and family throughout my career and I have been contemplating this decision for some time, and now I believe the time is right to consider them and to see what the future holds for me.”
While the Liverpool job proved a low point, another successful survival battle at West Brom allowed the Londoner the opportunity to manage his country, but a respectable showing at Euro 2012 was soon forgotten when England suffered a painful World Cup group stage exit in Brazil two years later.
Hodgson again turned the tide and the introduction of several youngsters and a 100 per cent qualification campaign lifted spirits before Euro 2016, but a shock 2-1 loss to Iceland ensured the experienced boss left the international stage in embarrassing circumstances.
It was expected to be Hodgson’s last role in management but, tempted back into work by his boyhood club, the 73-year-old has brought stability to Selhurst Park and will depart Palace with the record of being the oldest person to ever manage in the Premier League.
