Join us on Friday 6th December at the stunning Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane for a day to remember: Lunch with the England Managers.
Our VIP guests for the day are the three managers who oversaw the national team for over a decade from 1996-2006 with 113 matches in charge of the Three Lions between them. Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan were both legendary players before managing the national side, whilst Sven Goran Eriksson was and remains the longest-serving England manager since Sir Bobby Robson.
Following a superb lunch, our guests will join our SKY Sports host Pete Graves on the podium for a lengthy discussion of their careers and the trials, triumphs and tribulations in the most difficult job in the game! Sit back in the luxury of the Grosvenor and soak up the atmosphere with a complimentary bar, memorabilia auction and plenty of festive cheer. It promises to be a superb day, and a great way to treat colleagues and clients in the run-up to Christmas.
Sven-Goran Eriksson (2001-06): Following a playing career in the Swedish lower divisions, it was as a manager that Sven was to make his true mark on the game. He began as Tord Grip’s assistant at Degerfors. A year later, Grip left the club and Eriksson became manager. After initial success he was approached by IFK Gothenberg and from there his rise to the top was swift. He led IFK to the UEFA Cup in 1982, the first ever European triumph by a Swedish side, before moving to Benfica where he won 2 league titles and made another UEFA Cup Final. He then joined Roma, winning the Coppa Italia in 1994 before joining Lazio, achieving a famous Serie A title in 2000, as well as the Coppa Italia in 1998 and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999. England came calling and Sven took over in January 2001, he went on to become England’s longest-serving manager since Sir Bobby Robson. In all he managed England in 67 matches, losing just 10, and saw the country to 3 consecutive major championship finals, the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and Euro 2004, reaching the quarter-finals in each. Under Eriksson, England achieved the highest point percentage in major tournament matches of all time for an England manager, losing only 3 competitive games (excluding extra time) and achieved top qualifying place in all 3 international tournaments.
Glenn Hoddle (1996-99): Spurs great Glenn Hoddle represented the club with distinction for 12 seasons and is widely regarded as one of White Hart Lane’s greatest ever players. At international level he won 53 caps, at a time when a more physical approach to the game was in the ascendency; he would surely have won a 100 or more caps if he were playing today. In 2007 he was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame which cited him as one of the most gifted English footballers of his generation exhibiting “sublime balance and close control, unrivalled passing and vision and extraordinary shooting ability, both from open play and set pieces”. As a manager Glenn has also excelled, leading Chelsea out of the doldrums in the mid Nineties, before taking the role of England manager in 1996. He led the side to the 1998 World Cup Finals where they suffered the heartbreak of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Argentina in the Last 16. His record as England boss is impressive, with a win rate only bettered by Sir Alf Ramsey and Fabio Capello.
Kevin Keegan (1999-2000): During his playing career, Kevin Keegan was one of the world’s best attacking midfielders, playing for the likes of Newcastle, Hamburg and the great Liverpool side of the Seventies. A prolific goal-scorer, Kevin terrorised defences with his extravagant skills and box-to-box engine and is the only English footballer to be crowned European Footballer of the Year twice. In a glittering professional career Kevin scored an incredible 296 goals in 832 games in all, including 21 goals for England in 63 appearances. He made his name as a manager at Newcastle United and Fulham, before becoming boss of the England football team, successfully leading the side to the Euro 2000 Finals, where they were incredibly unfortunate to be eliminated by Romania’s 89th minute penalty in the final group game despite earlier securing a famous victory over Germany in the previous match. A superb and hilarious speaker, Kevin’s limitless supply of anecdotes always has guests in stitches, and he remains one of the game’s most colourful and entertaining characters.
