England Coach/Manager Honours

 

Coach of the Year Awards

BBC Sports Coach of the Year

On 9 December 2001, the BBC conferred on Sven-Göran Eriksson its Coach of the Year award, which was first made in 1999.  Eriksson was honoured for turning England around after a disastrous start to the World Cup 2002 qualifying campaign and leading them from last to first place in their preliminary group. 

Sports Coach UK Coach of the Year

On 6 December 2001, Sports Coach UK, known as the National Coaching Foundation in previous years, named Sven-Göran Eriksson U.K. coach of the year.  Eriksson shared the award with Alex Staunton, coach of long distance runner Paula Radcliffe.

World Soccer Magazine Coach of the Year

[To come.]

[More coach of the year awards to come.]

Lifetime Achievement/Service Awards

British Sports Writers' Association Achievement Awards

The Sports Writers' Association does not have an award specially designated for coaches, but it has honoured two England coach/managers with merit awards recognizing outstanding achievement in sport, the one for lifetime accomplishment in competition and the other for lifetime service outside competition:

Pat Besford Trophy for Outstanding Achievement

2001 - Bobby Robson

J. L. Manning Trophy for Outstanding Achievement Outside Competition

1977 - Walter Winterbottom

[Many thanks to Trevor Bond, secretary of the Sports Writers' Association, for information regarding the Association's awards.]

Professional Footballers' Association Merit Award

The Professional Footballers' Association has given its Merit Award, established in 1974 to recognise outstanding achievement or service in football, to three England managers:

1982 - Joe Mercer

1985 - Ron Greenwood

2003 - Sir Bobby Robson

Sports Coach UK Achievement Awards

See the Sports Coach UK Coaching Hall of Fame section below.

[More achievement awards to come.]

Halls of Fame

Football Association England National Team Hall of Fame

On 8 May 2002 the Football Association website published the full list of England managers/head coaches--including those who only served temporarily--under the heading "England Hall of Fame."  And on 8 July 2002 it republished the same list under the same heading, only this time it gave the list play on the website's front page and main England team page with links labelled "England Hall of Fame."  Apparently these 13 England managers/head coaches are, along with a select group of players, members of a new England Hall of Fame.

Sports Coach UK Coaching Hall of Fame

Each year since 1998, Sports Coach UK, formerly the National Coaching Foundation, has honoured outstanding coaches with the Dyson Award and the Mussabini Medal, with the recipients becoming members of the Coaching Hall of Fame.  

The Dyson Award, named after Geoffrey Dyson, O.B.E., Britain's chief national coach for track and field from 1947 to1961, goes to "individuals who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the development and management of coaching and individual coaches in the U.K."  The Mussabini Medal, named after Sam Mussabini, the early 20th century athletics coach portrayed in the Academy Award-winning film "Chariots of Fire," recognises "the contribution of coaches to U.K. performers who have achieved outstanding success on the world stage."

Three England football coaches are members of the Coaching Hall of Fame:

1998 - Alf Ramsey - Mussabini Medal

1999 - Walter Winterbottom - Dyson Award

2001 - Howard Wilkinson - Dyson Award

League Managers Association Hall of Fame

[More halls of fame to come.]

Swedish Honours for England's Coach

Sweden has twice honoured native son Sven-Göran Eriksson since he took charge of England's national football team.

On 4 April 2001, in ceremonies at the Football Association's Soho Square headquarters in London, Eriksson received the highly prestigious Prince's Plaque in recognition of his outstanding sporting achievements and the honour he has brought to Sweden.  The award was made by the Swedish government through its representative, Lars Wass.  F.A. chairman Geoffrey Thompson and UEFA President Lennart Johannson, Eriksson's countryman, took part in the ceremony.

On 5 November 2001, Eriksson was named Football Personality of the Year at the Stockholm Football Gala, the annual football awards ceremony sponsored by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet and the Swedish Football Association (Svenska Fotbollf�rbundet).  Sweden's own national team coaching duo of Lars Lagerback and Tommy S�derberg were also contenders for the award.  

Eriksson was unable to accept the award in person at the Monday night awards ceremonies because he was preparing the England team for the following Saturday's friendly match against his native country at Old Trafford.  He spoke to the gala gathering via satellite telecast, however, and paid particular tribute to his assistant Tord Grip.  S�derberg was asked to deliver the award to Eriksson at Old Trafford.  

English football is immensely popular in Sweden, of course.  Still, as London Daily Telegraph columnist Paul Hayward wrote, "Only a country as enlightened and liberal as this could bestow an award on a man even as he was plotting to destroy his own motherland six days hence."  A little more than three weeks after Sweden honoured Eriksson, the luck of the draw put Sweden and England in the same group at the World Cup 2002 finals, and so Sweden's Football Personality of the Year turned to plotting Sweden's footballing demise there, too.

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PY