• Fewer and fewer of them look to become coaches, he adds • ‘The last thing Gary Lineker would want to do is be a manager’

The Football Association is struggling to entice former England players into coaching due to more lucrative, less pressurised jobs available in broadcasting, its chief executive Martin Glenn has claimed.

Glenn and the FA’s technical director, Dan Ashworth, want to increase the number of former internationals taking Uefa qualifications and moving into coaching at the end of their playing careers. The national manager Sam Allardyce has backed plans for former England players to work with national teams of all ages at St George’s Park. But, while Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Tony Adams and Phil Neville have worked briefly with England’s development teams, the FA have found it difficult to encourage former players to become full-time coaches or take the qualifications available.

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The FA’s chief executive believes the likes of Gareth Southgate and formerly Gary Neville are exceptions because of the media opportunities available to them. “There is a pathway [to coaching] should they choose it. It’s just the alternative can seem more interesting, more fun and more lucrative,” said Glenn.

“If you can earn millions being a pundit it’s a lot less pressured than it is running a team. There is something about England where because of the money in TV that is not a bad pathway at all. I know Gary Lineker quite well and the last thing he would want to do is be a manager. And that was back in the olden days.

“You have to be a bit more creative about how you tap into them. We’ve got a great facility here [St George’s Park] to get your Uefa A and B coaching badges and the rest. There’s a pathway for those who want it. England is quite unique now because of the money you can make out of broadcasting. Some of those you might see as more obvious coaching-type people would have different avenues. But I always say the best players don’t make the best coaches. They’re not the only source of talent.”

Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and Glenn Hoddle were among the former England players consulted by the FA over the appointment of Allardyce as Roy Hodgson’s replacement. Allardyce’s departure from Sunderland means only three Premier League clubs currently have an English manager – Bournemouth, Burnley and Crystal Palace.