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Roy Hodgson – skysports.com

LONDON. – English Premiership soccer side Crystal Palace have appointed former England manager Roy Hodgson as their new boss following the dismissal of Frank de Boer.

De Boer departed on Monday, only 77 days into a three-year contract, after Palace became the first team in England’s top division to lose their opening four league fixtures without scoring since Preston 93 years ago.

Hodgson, who was also approached when Sam Allardyce was appointed to succeed Alan Pardew at Palace in December, takes on his first managerial role since resigning from the England post after Euro 2016.

The 70-year-old last worked in the English Premier League with West Brom in 2012 before leaving to become England manager. A year earlier he had inspired them, as he did similarly relegation-threatened Fulham in 2007-08, to survival. Between his time at Fulham and West Brom, Hodgson had an unsuccessful spell at Liverpool that lasted only six months.

Born in Croydon, Hodgson spent three years on Palace’s books as a young defender in the 1960s before leaving without making an appearance. He told the official Palace website: “This is very much the club of my boyhood, and I remember in my youth watching the club from the terraces at the Holmesdale Road end which gave me such fond memories.

“In those days I had dreams of playing for the team, then as a coach you think about coaching the team, and a lot has happened in between times.

“It is very rewarding to find myself here now, in different times, as the Palace manager at a club that I have always loved and admired with a huge potential.’’ – ESPN.