Under the superb guidance of Roy Hodgson, Fulham have reached the final of the 2010 Europa League defying the odds along the way. Fulham supporters have enjoyed a memorable campaign with wins over holders Shaktar Donetsk and Juventus.
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As a player, Hodgson was on the books at Crystal Palace but never made a first team appearance. Hodgson started to make a name for himself when he moved into management. The early part of his career was in Sweden with Halmstads, Orebro and Malmo where he won the Swedish league against the odds with Halmstads in 1976 and 1979.
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From there, Hodgson moved to Switzerland with Neuchatel Xamax before taking over the Swiss national team who he guided to the 1994 World Cup Finals and the 1996 Euro Finals. Hodgson next spent 2 years in Italy as manager of Inter Milan. In his final season as manager of Inter, they reached the 1997 UEFA Cup final before he headed to Blackburn Rovers. The move didn’t work out and he was sacked after 18 months.
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For the next few years, Hodgson held a number of managerial positions but never really settled anywhere for long and in 2005, he took over the Finnish national team and took them tantalisingly close to the Euro 2008 finals.
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At the end of 2007, Fulham offer Hodgson the managers job as at the time, they were struggling in the Premier League and needed a change of direction. Despite some poor initial results, Fulham stayed up and the following season Hodgson had worked his magic as they finished 7th, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
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Fulham’s first season in Europe has been nothing short of spectacular. They have not had an easy route playing the holders, Juventus and the German champions on the way. Now, Atheltico Madrid stand in their way of glory in the final in Hamburg.
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But what next for Roy Hodgson? There is no doubt that his influence on Fulham will have attracted the attentions of bigger clubs. Although Hodgson has been linked with the England job, Fabio Capello is doing a fine job and isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps it is a bit more realistic to think that Hodgson could well take over the English national team after the Euro 2012 finals.
