National service

How England managers fared in their first game in charge

Sir Alf Ramsey 1963-74

Nov 1963 France 5-2 England What they said “When [Alf ] asked the captain Jimmy Armfield if we always played that badly, and Jimmy answered with an emphatic no, he said: ‘That’s the best news I’ve had tonight’.’’ Bobby Charlton

Glenn Hoddle 1996-99

Sep 1996 Moldova 0-3 England What they said “It was not a difficult decision to call up players of the calibre of Beckham and Scholes – they were top, top quality.” Glenn Hoddle, on handing Beckham and Scholes their debuts.

Don Revie 1974-77

Oct 1974 England 3 Czechoslovakia 0 What they said “This isn’t going to work out. We haven’t got the players – there is no Billy Bremner and no one like Johnny Giles.” Revie to his son, Duncan Revie, the day after the win

Kevin Keegan 1999-2000

March 1999 England 3-1 Poland What they said “This turns our campaign around a bit. I really enjoyed it. I’ve only got four games and I am going to enjoy every one of them.” Kevin Keegan, insisting he wanted to remain solely as caretaker.

Ron Greenwood 1977-82

Sept 1977 England 0-0 Switzerland What they said “Even the Liverpool players who had won so much were eager to learn from Ron. I remember Emlyn Hughes saying that he had brought back the family atmosphere.” Geoff Hurst

Sven-Goran Eriksson 01-06

Feb 2001 England 3-0 Spain What they said “At Villa Park the photographers crowded in front of him during the national anthem so that they could ‘catch’ him not singing God Save The Queen.” Dean Cornish, England fan

Bobby Robson 1982-90

Sept 1982 Denmark 2-2 England What they said “I gathered [Kevin Keegan] liked to take over and yet I knew that it was vital that I should be in control from the first match.” Bobby Robson, explaining his decision to drop Kevin Keegan

Steve McClaren 2006-07

Aug 2006 England 4-0 Greece What they said “I spoke with David and said I was planning for the future, to go in a different direction, and that David wasn’t included in that.” Steve McClaren, on deciding to drop David Beckham.

Graham Taylor 1990-93

Sept 1990 England 1-0 Hungary What they said “I went into the job with some naivety. Because I come from Scunthorpe, the big club to me was always England. I can’t understand why all English people don’t see it like that.” Graham Taylor

Fabio Capello 2008-12

Feb 2008 England 2-1 Switzerland What they said “He is a very passionate man and loves winning. He lets you know when you are doing well and lets you know when you are making mistakes. He will be really good for us.” Wayne Rooney

Terry Venables 1994-96

March 1994 England 1-0 Denmark What they said “Each member of staff had to spread the word, reinforcing the same things again and again. We were determined to make it work.” Terry Venables, on the ‘Christmas tree’ formation.

Roy Hodgson 2012-16

May 2012 Norway 0-1 England What they said “It’s a fantastic start to my time in charge because it’s not often you get a result in Norway.” Roy Hodgson