Sam Allardyce's time as England manager is
over after one match after his contract was terminated by mutual consent with
the Football AssocIation
Allardyce was targeted in a Daily
Telegraph investigation into alleged corruption in English football, and the
departure of the 61-year-old after just 67 days at the helm was announced following
crisis talks involving FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin
Glenn.
"Allardyce's conduct, as
reported today, was inappropriate of the England manager," read an FA
statement.
"He accepts he made a
significant error of judgement and has apologised. However, due to the serious
nature of his actions, the FA and Allardyce have mutually agreed to terminate
his contract with immediate effect.
England Under-21 boss Gareth
Southgate will take charge of the senior side for the next four games in an
interim capacity.
Allardyce described the Three
Lions post as the culmination of his career in football and his dream job, but
it has ended in embarrassment and recrimination.
When replacing from Roy
Hodgson in July, following an abject Euro 2016 performance, he had denied the
England national side was at rock bottom.
It seems impossible to reject the
same contention now, as evidenced by the grave language used by the FA.
"This is not a decision that
was taken lightly but the FA's priority is to protect the wider interests of
the game and maintain the highest standards of conduct in football,"
continued the statement.
"The manager of the England
men's senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong leadership and
show respect for the integrity of the game at all times.
"Gareth Southgate will take
charge of the men's senior team for the next four matches against Malta,
Slovenia, Scotland and Spain whilst the FA begins its search for the new
England manager.
"The FA wishes Sam well in
the future."
Allardyce gave a "sincere and
wholehearted apology" for his part in the messy divorce.
"Further to recent events,
the FA and I have mutually agreed to part company," he said in a personal
statement on the FA website.
"It was a great honour for me
to be appointed back in July and I am deeply disappointed at this outcome.
"This afternoon, I met with
Greg Clarke and Martin Glenn and offered a sincere and wholehearted apology for
my actions."
Videos released by the Telegraph
show 61-year-old Allardyce appearing to make a variety of indiscreet and
controversial comments to undercover reporters posing as businessmen, with the
newspaper having agreed to share more detailed findings with the FA.
While Allardyce is seen talking in
an unguarded and potentially damaging fashion about his predecessor Roy
Hodgson, former assistant manager Gary Neville and selection policy involving
individuals, the most serious issues appear to be his apparent willingness to
pursue a £400,000 deal to address investors in the Far East and his views on
the outlawed practice of third-party ownership.
After apparently negotiating the
lucrative payday - on top of his £3million wage deal - to act as a
"keynote speaker" to overseas investment firms, Allardyce adds the
caveat that he would have to "run it past the powers that be".
That was clearly deemed too
little, too late.
"Although it was made clear
during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need the
FA's full approval, I recognise I made some comments which have caused
embarrassment," Allardyce's statement continued.
"As part of today's meeting,
I was asked to clarify what I said and the context in which the conversations
took place. I have co-operated fully in this regard.
"I also regret my comments
with regard to other individuals."
The England manager was filmed
offering an account of how to circumvent third-party ownership regulations,
saying it was "not a problem" to get around FA rules which stop third
parties "owning" football players' economic rights.
The controversial practice was banned
by the FA in 2008 over concerns it compromised the integrity of the game, as
the third party could profit whenever a player was sold.
He added an unnamed group had been
"doing it for years" and "you can still get around it",
suggesting they employ the player's agents to compensate for the fact they are
no longer allowed to profit from each transfer directly.
"You get a percentage of the
player's agent's fee that the agent pays to you, the company, because he's done
that new deal at the club again or they sell him on, and you're not getting a
part of the transfer fee any more, because you can't do that," Allardyce
says.
"But, you get - because of
the size of the contracts now, the contract will be worth 30, 40million, at 10
per cent and you've done a deal with the agent where you're getting five per
cent of the agent's fee, which is massive for doing about two hours'
work."
Sam Allardyce statement
"Further to recent events,
the FA and I have mutually agreed to part company.
"It was a great honour for me
to be appointed back in July and I am deeply disappointed at this outcome.
"This afternoon, I met with
Greg Clarke and Martin Glenn and offered a sincere and wholehearted apology for
my actions.
"Although it was made clear
during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need the
FA's full approval, I recognise I made some comments which have caused
embarrassment.
"As part of today's meeting,
I was asked to clarify what I said and the context in which the conversations
took place. I have co-operated fully in this regard.
"I also regret my comments
with regard to other individuals."
Football Association statement
"The FA can confirm that Sam
Allardyce has left his position as England manager.
"Allardyce's conduct, as
reported today, was inappropriate of the England manager. He accepts he made a
significant error of judgement and has apologised. However, due to the serious
nature of his actions, the FA and Allardyce have mutually agreed to terminate
his contract with immediate effect.
"This is not a decision that
was taken lightly but the FA's priority is to protect the wider interests of
the game and maintain the highest standards of conduct in football. The manager
of the England men's senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong
leadership and show respect for the integrity of the game at all times.
"Gareth Southgate will take
charge of the men's senior team for the next four matches against Malta,
Slovenia, Scotland and Spain whilst the FA begins its search for the new
England manager.
"The FA wishes Sam well in
the future."
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