Dan says farewell

DAN ASHWORTH realised his days as FA technical director were numbered as soon as England’s World Cup plane touched down back home.

Yesterday, he said his farewells at St George’s Park, after spending more than six years at the organisation, before heading up football operations at Brighton.

Ashworth (right) will be replaced by Les Reed after announcing his intention to leave in September – although his mind was already made up within hours of England’s final game in Russia last summer.

“I’ll never forget this,” he said. “Coming back from Russia, as we landed, it occurred to me that it would be another four-and-a-half years before we did this all again.

“It’s time for me, and maybe time for the organisation, to have a fresh set of eyes on it and a new challenge.

“A little bit of my personality is that I really enjoy building, getting going in a new project. Once a new project is up and running, maybe that doesn’t suit me quite so much.

“So there’s a bit of going back into club football that fulfilled my competitive edge on a regular basis.”