On This Day – 1st August
Steve McClaren became England manager on this day back in 2006. He was announced as successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson in January of 2006 before taking charge after the World Cup.
McClaren started his managerial career at Middlesbrough in the 2000/01 season and was the Football Association’s second choice to replace Eriksson. Initially, Luis Felipe Scolari was offered the role but the Brazilian rejected the job.
England famously failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships under McClaren’ management, with this being the major reason behind the FA’s decision to sack him.
In one particularly difficult time under McClaren, England scored one goal in five games. He also decided to drop David Beckham from the squad, a decision that was very unpopular with fans and the press.
In what was McClaren’s final game in charge of the national team, England lost 3-2 to Croatia in torrential rain. McClaren stood on the touchline with an umbrella to shield himself from the poor weather and he became infamously known as ‘The Wally with the Brolly’ as the defeat meant England would miss out on Euro 2008.
McClaren has done relatively well since his time as England boss, managing six different clubs (including two spells at Derby County and Dutch side FC Twente).
England haven’t failed in any of their six qualifying campaigns for major tournaments and had five different managers in the thirteen years.
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