Meet the Englishmen managing national teams abroad

Although it’s rare for an Englishman to manage the most successful men’s national sides abroad, things are different when it comes to the women’s game.

Emma Hayes has one of the most coveted jobs in world football, managing the United States national team, while former Wales boss Gemma Grainger, born in Middlesbrough, was appointed Norway boss in January 2024.

The experienced Constantine, though, is not alone among Englishmen currently plying their trade around the world.

They are led by ex-England boss Steve McClaren at Jamaica and New Zealand’s Darren Bazeley, who had 10 years as a player with Watford, in more high-profile posts. There is also former Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday defender Ashley Westwood at Hong Kong, and Southampton-born Gary White in a second spell at Chinese Taipei, having worked previously with the Bahamas.

Scan the list of current national team bosses and there are very few nationalities represented more than England. Only Spain, France, Germany and Argentina are in the same bracket, suggesting English managers are some of the most coveted in international football.

Constantine, though, claims those numbers are intrinsically linked to how well a country’s national team does in major tournaments.

“Do you know why I want England to win the World Cup or the Euros? Because then every country is going to go, ‘we have to get somebody from England’,” says Constantine.

“Why? Because if a country has just won the Euros or the World Cup, it makes a big difference all over the world.”