The five shortest tenures of England managers

by/ 27 September 2016, 10:36

Note - Sam Allardyce has since been sacked by the FA, meaning he held the job for just one game.

On Monday night the Daily Telegraph dropped an absolute bombshell after releasing a video they secretly filmed of England Manager Sam Allardyce telling undercover reporters how the FA’s transfer rules can be circumvented. In the shock video the 61-year-old also mocked his predecessor Roy Hodgson.

As a result Big Sam’s future in charge of the national team is up in the air, meaning he could now be sacked after just one game at the helm! Below we take a look at the five of the shortest spells of the 13 men that have previously permanently managed England.

Steve McClaren: 18 matches

Steve McClaren holds the unwanted tag for holding the shortest tenure as England manager after taking charge of 18 matches in 16 months between 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately for McClaren he will always be infamously remembered as the “Wally with the Brolly” who inexplicably failed to lead England through to to Euro 2008 after losing their final qualifier at home to Croatia - they only needed to avoid defeat.

England’s failure to qualify for the European Championships for the first time in 24 years forced the FA to act and remove McClaren from his position. In total the former Middlesbrough boss lost a whopping five of his 18 games, nine of which he won, while four were drawn.

Kevin Keegan: 18 matches

Kevin Keegan also oversaw 18 games as England manager, however for argument’s sake he is second in this list as time wise he lasted longer in the dugout than McClaren - tallying just over 20 months as opposed to 16.

Keegan led England through to Euro 2000 after edging out rivals Scotland 2-1 (on aggregate) in the play-offs. Despite a bright start to their opening match of the tournament, England disappointingly fell to a 3-2 defeat to Portugal after blowing a 2-0 lead. The Three Lions recovered with an impressive a 1-0 victory over defending champions Germany, but then lost 3-2 Romania, meaning they missed out on the knockout stages.

Terry Venables: 23 matches

The last man to lead England through to the semi-final of a major tournament (Euro 1996) - and only the second since Sir Alf Ramsey - was Terry Venables who accumulated 23 matches in charge of his country. 20 years ago The Three Lions enjoyed a memorable European Championships on home soil, but in the end lost out to fierce rivals Germany on penalties.

Venables won 11 of his 23 matches at the helm, drawing a further 11, while he only lost one game. The stunning 4-1 victory over the Netherlands at Euro 2016 will always be fondly remembered as one of the great England performances of all time, and one in which Venables rightly described as “perfection”.

Glenn Hoddle: 28 matches

Third on the list is Glenn Hoddle who enjoyed a 60% win rate during his time in charge of England - third in the all time list - after winning 17 of his 28 matches. Under Hoddle England reached the second round of the 1998 World Cup where they agonisingly lost to Argentina on penalties following a thrilling 2-2 draw after 120minutes.

Hoddle’s tenure ended in real controversy after his shocking comments about how the disabled were being punished for their sins in a former life. Unsurprisingly this awful viewpoint cost him his job, with the FA opting to terminate his contract.

Don Revie: 29 matches

The fifth and final manager is Don Revie who lasted one match more than Hoddle with a record of 29 games at the helm. Revie was a popular appointment, heading into the job after enjoying immense success with Leeds United.

However, Revie was unable to replicate this success in charge of his country, failing to lead his troops through to Euro 1976, although they did at least triumph in the 1974-75 British Home Championship.