Phil Neville will leave his role as England Women’s head coach next summer.
Having succeeded Mark Sampson at the helm in January 2018, the 43-year-old last year led the Lionesses to SheBelieves Cup glory and fourth place at the World Cup.
Neville was set to lead England into the Women’s European Championship on home soil in 2021, but UEFA confirmed the delay of the tournament by a year due to the coronavirus crisis on Thursday.
The former Manchester United and Everton full-back will not be in charge for the rearranged tournament in 2022 as he will be leaving at the expiration of his contract next summer.
We can confirm that Phil Neville will leave his role as head coach of our senior women’s team at the end of his contract in July 2021.— England (@England) April 24, 2020
In a statement, the Football Association said: “Following the decision to postpone the UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 to 2022, England Women’s head coach Phil Neville has confirmed he’s committed to honouring the full term of his contract, which will see him leave the role in July 2021.”
“As a result of the changes to the proposed tournament scheduling, we’ll now be working to plan for a revised match calendar once it’s safe and appropriate to do so,” the outgoing England boss said.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to work with the team as soon as possible.
“We have a fantastic squad of players and there is plenty to work on as we look to progress as a team going into 2021.”
As well as leading the Lionesses, who have lost seven of their last 11 matches in all competitions, into Euro 2021, Neville had been set to lead Team GB women’s side at this summer’s Olympic Games.
But, like the Euros, the Tokyo Games have been pushed back a year due to Covid-19 and FA director of women’s football Sue Campbell says that is one of the matters that needs looking at.
“In light of the impact of current global events on the sporting calendar and in the best interests of the England Women’s team, both parties were in agreement that our shared priority was to ensure the Lionesses have continuity of coaching going into the home Euro and looking towards the 2023 FIFA World Cup,” she said.
“Once football returns after this difficult period, Phil will continue his work with the Lionesses on the further development of his squad.
“I will support him fully with that important task while moving forward with the crucial succession planning process.
“We’ll now discuss next steps with the British Olympic Association and the home nations with regard to Team GB football and we’re not in a position to make any further comment at this time.”
