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Phil Neville: England women manager's future to be revealed on Thursday


Phil Neville and Jordan Nobbs attended a 500 days to Euro 2021 event at Wembley before it was postponed

Phil Neville’s future as England women’s manager is set to be revealed on Thursday after dates for the delayed European Championship are confirmed.

Neville, 43, has been in talks with the Football Association for several weeks.

His contract lasts until June 2021, which would have been after the Euros but they have been postponed to 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament, to be held in England, was moved because the Tokyo Olympics have been pushed back to next year.

Neville, who became manager in January 2018, has faced questions about his future.

He led England to a first SheBelieves Cup title in 2019 before a fourth-place finish at the World Cup that summer.

But since last year’s quarter-final win over Norway, the Lionesses have lost seven of 11 games and failed to retain their SheBelieves Cup title in March.

Despite those results, the former Manchester United player has retained the support of the FA. The decision about his contract has come about because of coronavirus and its impact on the women’s football calendar.

Idealy, the FA wants someone to take the side through the Tokyo Olympics – where the manager will lead a Great Britain team – the Euros and the 2023 World Cup so that there is continuity.

But that means Neville would need to commit until 2023 and, the Olympics aside, he faces a further two years of friendly matches with England because of their host status for the European Championship.

The postponements of the Olympics and Euros would also give the FA time to appoint a new manager and refresh the playing squad before an unprecedented run of major tournaments.

After the SheBelieves Cup, where England lost to World Cup winners the United States and also to Spain, Neville said he would walk away if he felt he was not “motivated enough” to continue.

He also said: “I think we need to take a step back now and start building the foundations again – getting back to the brilliant basics.”



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