England's Hope Powell (center) has been sacked by The FA, thanks mostly to a winless campaign at Euros. (Photo copyright Harjeet Johal for The Equalizer)
Hope Powell has been fired by The Football Association as head coach of the England women’s national team, effectively immediately, after 15 years in charge. After a dismal showing at the 2013 Euro group stage, where they failed to win (including a 3-0 loss to France which exposed every weakness the team had), it was only a matter of when, not if, for Powell.
Powell joins France’s Bruno Bini as managers who find themselves out of a job after disappointing finishes at Euros.
[MORE: Jeff Kassouf on Powell, Bini coming under fire at the close of the tournament]
Powell’s 15-year legacy with England recently came into question thanks in part to a sudden interest from the U.K. press, the hint that players may have started to question her roster decisions, previous international performance, and the final blow of the 2013 Euros.
Here’s the full text of the announcement from The FA’s general secretary Alex Horne:
Hope deserves a lot of credit for her commitment to developing the national teams over such a long period.
The high point was undoubtedly reaching the UEFA European Championship final four years ago.
However, after the disappointment of the recent tournament in Sweden, the Club England Board believe the time is right to make a change and for a fresh outlook.
I’d like to place on record the organisation’s thanks to Hope for her efforts and wish her every success in the future.
Hope will always be welcome back at Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park and she leaves a strong legacy, having helped The FA build the women’s game to the strong position it is in today.
The FA has made significant investment into the women’s game over the past 20 years and this has seen major developments such as The FA’s Women’s Super League.
We have received outstanding support and investment from broadcast and commercial partners, and participation levels make women’s football the third most played sport in England.
It is important we continue this development at major tournaments so we can compete, with Germany, France, Spain and the Nordic countries in Europe in addition to the likes of Japan, Brazil, USA and Canada at the 2015 FIFA World Cup.
We will now look to recruit a new Head Coach and a Technical lead for women’s football who will report to Dan Ashworth. We will be speaking to people from across the game both domestically and internationally before making any appointments.”
