The role of an England national football team manager was first established in May 1947 with the appointment of Walter Winterbottom. Before this, the England team was selected by the "International Selection Committee", a process by which the Football Association would select coaches and trainers from the league to prepare the side for single games, but where all decisions ultimately remained under the control of the committee. A 1–0 defeat by Switzerland prompted FA secretary Stanley Rous to raise Winterbottom from "National Director of coaching" to "Manager". Fifteen men have occupied the post since its inception; three of those were in short-term caretaker manager roles. Alf Ramsey is the only manager to have won a major tournament, winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup with his "Wingless Wonders". No other manager has progressed beyond the semi-finals of a major competition. The incumbent is the Italian Fabio Capello, who replaced Steve McClaren in 2008. The England manager's job is subject to intense press scrutiny, often including revelations about the incumbent's private life. Due to the high level of expectation of both the public and media the role has been described as "the impossible job" or compared in importance in national culture to that of the British Prime Minister.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_national_football_team_manager

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1348:

The first-ever appointments of the Order of the Garter, an order of chivalry, founded by King Edward III of England, that is today presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, were announced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter

1661:

Charles II was crowned King of England, Ireland, and Scotland at Westminster Abbey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England

1827:

Irish mathematician and physicist William Rowan Hamilton presented his Theory of Systems of Rays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton

1979:

Activist Blair Peach suffered fatal head injures after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in Southall, London, against a British National Front election meeting in the town hall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_Peach

1985:

The Coca-Cola Company introduced "New Coke" to replace its flagship soft drink Coca-Cola, eventually generating so much negative response that the company put the original formula back on the market less than three months later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

simony (n): The act of buying and selling ecclesiastical offices and pardons http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/simony

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I would not so dishonour God as to lend my voice to perpetuate all the mad and foolish things which men have dared to say of Him. I believe that we may find in the Bible the highest and purest religion ..... most of all in the history of Him in whose name we all are called. His religion — not the Christian religion, but the religion of Christ — the poor man's gospel; the message of forgiveness, of reconciliation, of love; and, oh, how gladly would I spend my life, in season and out of season, in preaching this! But I must have no hell terrors, none of these fear doctrines; they were not in the early creeds, God knows whether they were ever in the early gospels, or ever passed His lips. He went down to hell, but it was to break the chains, not to bind them. --James Anthony Froude http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude