The FA is relying on an “open recruitment process” to find a successor as England’s national team coach and is publishing a public job advertisement – with high criteria.
As part of the Football Association’s (FA) efforts to find a successor to Gareth Southgate, the FA published a job advertisement for the vacant position on its website on Friday. Anyone interested has the opportunity to apply to the FA by e-mail by the deadline on August 2 – the search is explicitly not limited to men.
As expected, however, the criteria are high. The Football Association’s focus is on a coach who can “lead and develop” England so that they can “win a major tournament” for the first time since 1966. He should also help ensure that the Three Lions continue to be “rated as one of the best teams in the world”.
On top of this, a valid UEFA Pro License, “significant experience in English soccer” including a “strong track record in the Premier League or leading international competitions” as well as excellent soft skills are expected: the new national team coach is expected to lead the England functional team at St. George’s Park with his “inspirational leadership.”
Great competition
Also important for the “exceptional leader”: high resilience and feeling comfortable in a “very high-profile role”. Although, as the FA also wrote, “a number of candidates” had already been identified for these criteria, the company was nevertheless willing to grant an “open recruitment process”.
However, it remains to be seen whether a potential candidate will be able to prevail against the well-known competition. Various names have already been mooted as possible successors in recent days. These include German coaches Thomas Tuchel or Jürgen Klopp, whom former international Gary Lineker explicitly wants. The FA is also prepared to wait until Pep Guardiola’s contract with Manchester City expires in 2025.
Gareth Southgate only stepped down as England coach on Tuesday following the 2-1 defeat to Spain in the European Championship final. Since 2016, he had been in charge of the Three Lions, who reached the European Championship final twice under his leadership, but failed against Italy in 2021 and most recently against Spain. The first assignment for the new national coach could come on September 7 as part of the Nations League match against Iceland.
