Why Gary Neville didn't get the England job despite being Dan Ashworth's 'perfect' candidate

Gary Neville has revealed that he nearly became the England manager after discussions with Football Association officials, who viewed him as the ideal successor for Roy Hodgson.

After his retirement as a player, Neville had ambitions of becoming a coach, working alongside Hodgson with England from 2012 to 2016. This included two European Championships and the 2014 World Cup, gaining valuable coaching experience across these tournaments. In December 2015, Neville ventured into his first formal managerial role when he was hired by Peter Lim as the gaffer at Valencia. Unfortunately, his Spanish stint didn't quite go to plan, lasting only 28 games before being sacked on the back of poor performances.

According to Neville, despite his rocky time in Spain ending in dismissal, it played an essential part in what could have been the future career path. He revealed the FA's director of elite development, Dan Ashworth, had far-reaching plans around his potential ascension to the top job post-Hodgson.

"I've never said this publicly, but I remember getting the Valencia job in December, and Dan Ashworth rang me and said this was the perfect move for me to be on that next step for when Roy Hodgson decided he wanted to leave the England job, for me to take over," Neville shared on the Stick to Football podcast.

Presently a well-respected pundit with Sky Sports, had things panned out differently; Neville might have gone down an entirely different path. Neville reflected on his managerial stint, admitting, "I always remember that phone call and him saying this was the perfect opportunity, but I look back now, and it was right that I failed in the job because I didn't put the work in. With how my work ethic is now, I needed to fail to have that slap in the face moment, for me to get back to it, which is where I am now."

In a twist of fate, England appointed Sam Allardyce as Roy Hodgson's successor in July 2016, mere months after Neville's dismissal from Valencia. Despite signing a two-year deal, Allardyce led the team for only one game before resigning 67 days into his tenure amid allegations from a newspaper sting suggesting he discussed ways to bypass transfer rules.

Gareth Southgate stepped up from managing the England under-21s to take over the senior team, a position he still holds. Neville, having moved away from management post-Valencia, harbours no regrets about how his career unfolded.

Neville further shared details about his coaching qualifications: "By the time I was manager of Valencia, I had done my UEFA B licence which was when I was 31," he said. "I had done my UEFA A licence at 34 whilst I was still at Manchester United, and I had done my UEFA Pro licence at 37, so I was fully qualified and could sit on the bench for any team in Europe.

"I said at the time that if you do your coaching badges, it will help with your punditry and it does for a period because you're talking about the game with 20 other coaches doing their badges. Despite doing the badges, I didn't want to go into a managerial role because I was enjoying the media side. The lessons from Valencia were massive for me about saying no. At the time, I said yes to a couple things that came my way, and the one with Peter at Valencia was purely to do him a favour."