The Football Association is to announce that Phil Neville will step down as manager of England Women at the end of his contract in the summer of 2021.
A new head coach will take the reins for the European Championship in England in 2022. That tournament was originally scheduled for the summer of 2021, with Neville’s contract due to end after its conclusion, but the coronavirus pandemic meant it was postponed by a year.
It is unclear whether Neville will take charge of Team GB as planned at the Olympic Games, which have also been delayed by a year until the summer of 2021.
The 43-year-old conceded in March that it was fair for people to criticise his tenure, which began in January 2018, labelling England’s SheBelieves Cup campaign that month as “unacceptable”. Defeats by USA and Spain, sandwiching a scrappy 1-0 win against Japan, took England to seven losses in 11 games, a run that began with a 2-1 defeat by USA in their World Cup semi-final last summer.
After the defeat against Spain, Neville said he needed a period of “self-reflection”, adding: “I went through five managers in Valencia for better records than I’ve got at this moment in time. David Moyes lost his job at Manchester United with probably a better record than I’ve got so I take responsibility.”
The pressure has mounted on Neville who, despite a first SheBelieves Cup title in 2019 and having reached the last four of the World Cup, has struggled to get the Lionesses producing consistent performances across 90 minutes. Defensive fragilities have also blighted the former Manchester United and England defender’s tenure.
The Football Association stuck by its man, though, including when critics pointed to the run of five games without a win that led to the sacking of Hope Powell as manager in 2013. Neville insisted after defeat against Norway in a friendly: “I have a vision that no one else has. I’ve got bravery that no other coach has. So thank your lucky stars. I think with the players we’ve got we can go far.”
Yet there is a feeling that while the best teams in the world have pushed on since last summer, England have at best stood still, with Neville having previously cited a lack of competitive action (with the team having qualified for the European Championship as hosts) as the reason for a “World Cup hangover”.
An 86th-minute winner from Leah Williamson in England’s laboured 3-2 victory against the Czech Republic, a team ranked 21 places below them, in November threw the manager a lifeline just as the narrow window for the FA to make a leadership change before the Olympics looked to be closing. The postponement of the Tokyo Games and Euro 2021, though, has given the governing body the opportunity to afford a new manager the time to mould and prepare a team capable of competing through back-to-back tournaments.
When outlining its Gameplan for Growth strategy in 2017 the FA targeted the 2023 World Cup as the tournament when the structures and support systems around the national team would be strong enough for it to challenge. That left the FA with a dilemma: extend Neville’s contract until 2022 to take account of the coronavirus delay, or give his replacement the time they need to build for a critical tournament.