Roy Hodgson has been confirmed as Crystal Palace’s new manager.
On Tuesday Crystal Palace released the news as Hodgson joins on a two-year deal.
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The former England, West Brom, Liverpool, Fulham and Blackburn manager replaces Frank de Boer who was fired on Monday after just four games in charge of Palace as the Eagles lost all four games and failed to score a goal to open up the Premier League season.
Hodgson, 70, has become the oldest-ever newly appointed manager in the Premier League and speaking to Palace’s website, the native south Londoner was delighted to take charge at Selhurst Park.“This is very much the club of my boyhood and I remember in my youth watching the club from the terraces at the Holmesdale Road end which gave me such fond memories,” Hodgson said. “In those days I had dreams of playing for the team, then as a coach you think about coaching the team and a lot has happened in between times.
“It is very rewarding to find myself here now, in different times, as the Palace manager at a club that I have always loved and admired with a huge potential. We are the club of south London, with an enormously large fan base. The ambitions here are realistic and there is an enormous potential for growth and I hope we can achieve our goals.”
Just before the official announcement Palace chairman Steve Parish had posted a photo on Instagram of Hodgson in Crystal Palace training gear as well as the following message: “Warm welcome ‘back’ to CPFC to Roy Hodgson.”
Hodgson’s first game in charge will be against Southampton this Saturday at Selhurst Park (Watch live, 7:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
He then faces trips to Manchester City and Manchester United, then a home game against Chelsea in a tough stretch of games as the start of his tenure.
A vastly experienced coach who has managed 15 clubs and four national teams (England, Finland, Switzerland, UAE), Hodgson has been out of a head coaching job since stepping down as England boss following their shock EURO 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland in June 2016.