FA sacked Sampson because he had six-month fling with female player he coached

He had six-month fling with female player he coached EXCLUSIVE

ENGLAND women’s coach Mark Sampson was sacked for having a relationship with one of his players while at Bristol Academy, it emerged yesterday.

Insiders with knowledge of Sampson’s time at Bristol report that the woman involved was over 18 and the pair were together for six months.

She is understood to have no problems about her involvement with Sampson and does not want to talk about it.

The FA safeguarding report that led to the dismissal of Sampson (below) last week also detailed his ‘over socialising’ with Bristol’s players.

This information emerged on the day that the FA board gave their backing to beleaguered chief executive Martin Glenn after a meeting in which the Sampson controversy was top of the agenda.

An FA statement released after the meeting pointed the finger at ‘historic processes’ and no heads are expected to roll unless more damning revelations emerge.

Glenn and chairman Greg Clarke, who wholly supported his chief executive’s belief that Sampson had to go after reading the safeguarding report, were even praised for bringing about ‘substantial positive change’ during their leadership.

Glenn received unanimous support to carry on in charge, though it was recognised that it was a major mistake for him not to read the report into Sampson’s time at Bristol when it was first flagged up to him in October 2015.

FA technical director Dan Ashworth, who extended Sampson’s contract in 2016 having known about the investigation, did not feature much in the discussions.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that England player Eni Aluko will give evidence to the Parliamentary select committee on sports governance on October 18. Aluko made racism and bullying accusations against Sampson although two investigations did not support her complaints.