It has been confirmed by the England Lionesses (the England Women’s National Soccer Team) that current manager, Phil Neville, will finish his contract with the team in July 2021.
Neville was set to lead Team GB in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and later the Lionesses in the 2021 Women’s Euros, which were supposed to take place on English home soil. However, the uncertainty around his future surfaced because of the coronavirus’ impact on the Women’s soccer calendar. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were set to be played this summer, have since been postponed until 2021, consequently causing the Women’s 2021 Euro to be postponed until 2022.
In an ideal situation, the English Football Association, which is the governing body of soccer, would prefer to have the same coach leading and managing throughout the 2021 Olympics, Euro 2022 and the 2023 Women’s World Cup. However Neville’s contract was originally designed for him to get through the Tokyo Olympic Games, giving the English FA a year to find bring in a new coach before Euro 2021. However, the recent postponements mean that there is a possibility that England will have to undergo a coaching transition in a mere few weeks before the Olympics, as the games are expected to begin mid-July, which is a month after Neville’s contact expiration.
Neville was a legendary soccer player in his time, having played 10 years with Manchester United in the English Premier League, and won 6 Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title and 3 FA Cups with the club. He played aside Inter-Miami owner David Beckham. In 2005, he moved to another EPL club, Everton FC, and spent his last 8 years of playing there. He also earned 59 international caps for the England National soccer team, making his England debut in 1996.
The former Premier League player was appointed as the England Lionesses’ head coach on January 23rd, 2018, and signed a contract binding him until the end of Euro 2021. He then made his managerial debut against France on March 1st, 2018, leading England to a 4-1 win against France at the annual SheBelieves Cup hosted on USA soil.
Reminder of the sexism and controversies surrounding the USWNT, Neville also found himself caught up in controversy, with old tweets of his bearing derogatory comments towards women surfacing from the past after taking the job. After backlash from a number of people online, Neville issued a statement in apology: “Following comments made a number of years ago I would like to clarify that they were not and are not a true and genuine reflection of either my character or beliefs, and would like to apologise,” he said. There were no consequences issued from the English FA following the apology.
On 23rd March, 2018, Neville broke English soccer records: the Lionesses had moved up to second place in the FIFA international world rankings, making them the highest-ranked England team in history, out of both previous men’s and women’s teams. The Lionesses had pushed 2016 Olympic Champions Germany down to 3rd, and became the highest-ranked women’s side in Europe. They trailed only to 3-time World-Cup Champions at the time, the USWNT.
And so, the future looked bright for Neville and his team heading into 2019. And they acted on those expectations. The Lionesses won again in 2019 the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational tournament held every year in the U.S. After drawing with the USWNT and recording victories over Brazil and Japan, they clinched their first ever SheBelieves Cup title.
Neville’s team seemed to have a strong start to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, taking a convincing 3-0 quarterfinal win against Norway, which then led them to face World Champions USA in the semi-final. The Lionesses lost to the eventual winners 2-1, and subsequently lost the bronze-medal match to Sweden, which Neville controversially described as a “nonsense game”.
Since the world Cup quarterfinal win, England have showcased some poor performances, losing 7 out of 11 games. Last month, the Lionesses failed to keep a hold of their SheBelieves Cup title, being defeated by both Spain and winners USA.
Phil Neville’s older brother Gary, is also a soccer star in his own right. He played together with his brother for Manchester United and won 2 Champions Leagues and 8 Premier League titles. Gary Neville spoke to SkySports: “He’s [Gary] got 14 months left on his contract and obviously the Olympics and the European Championships were within that period,” he said. “The problem is now obviously with coronavirus, those tournaments have been taken out of the period and international manager’s contracts run to tournament ends.”