Ex-England captain Terry Butcher has previously managed Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Coventry

Former England captain Terry Butcher says he felt like "the game had fallen out of love" with him before being appointed as head coach of the Philippines.

The 59-year-old has not held a managerial position since he was sacked by Newport County in 2015.

Butcher, who made 77 appearances for England, has managed eight clubs since ending his playing career in 1990.

"Becoming a national team coach is the next step for me," he told BBC Sport.

The former Ipswich and Rangers defender, who is currently working as a pundit for BBC Radio 5 live at the 2018 World Cup, said there had been "not many" managerial opportunities since leaving Newport.

"People asked me whether I'd fallen out of love with the game but it felt more like the game had fallen out of love with me," he said.

"I've enjoyed my punditry work, personal appearances and after-dinner speaking but there's nothing like getting back in the dugout.

"I know what it takes to play for your country and want to impart that knowledge on my players."

The Philippines qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time under previous manager Thomas Dooley, whose contract expired in March.

They will face China, South Korea, and Kyrgyzstan in the group stages of the competition, which begins in January.

How the job came about

Butcher represented England at three World Cups - 1982, 1986 and 1990

Butcher travelled to the Philippines just over 18 months ago to visit a club side about potentially taking over and saw the national team face Singapore and Indonesia.

Although the club role did not transpire, he said he kept in touch with people in the country through Steve Marsella, who worked with Butcher during his four years at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and is the current Philippines goalkeeping coach.

"The board got in touch with me through Steve recently, we talked and got it sorted out," he said.

"It's handy having Steve out there, he knows the players and it's a bit of a head start. It's a two-year contract, I go out in August and we'll see what happens from there."

The Philippines are looking for their first victory in the ASEAN Football Federation Championship, also known as the Suzuki Cup, in November before making their debut in the Asia Cup, which was expanded from 16 to 24 teams for the 2019 edition.

"The country wants to do well in the Suzuki Cup and then the Asia Cup is the big one," said Butcher.

"We'll be looking to do well even though we've got a tough group and with the new format if you're one of the four best third-placed teams in the group then you go through to the next stage.

"Before that there's a lot of work to be done but I know they've got talent and players that want to improve."

'We want to hear from players with Filipino parentage'

Butcher, who was assistant to former Scotland boss George Burley between 2008 and 2009, said he hopes to tap into a burgeoning interest in football throughout a country with a population of about 106 million.

"The main sport is basketball but football is really growing," he said.

"They have a massive population and if you can get them going as one big team then who knows what can happen?"

However, he added he is also prepared to explore the possibility of calling up players with Filipino parentage from around the world.

"There may be players out there who had not thought about playing football for the Philippines but have parents or grandparents from the country," he said.

"We want to hear from them but that takes time so the bulk of the squad that qualified for the Asia Cup will be there for the tournament."