Phil Neville to leave England women’s manager job next year

Former Manchester United defender to vacate his post when contract expires in July 2021

England women's team manager Phil Neville will leave his role in July 2021. PA

Phil Neville will leave his role as England women's manager next summer following a major shift in the sporting landscape.

The former Manchester United and Everton defender last year led the Lionesses to fourth place at the World Cup, having succeeded Mark Sampson at the helm in January 2018.

Neville signed a deal with the Football Association until 2021, when England was due to host the European Championship – a tournament Uefa has confirmed will now take place in 2022 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 43-year-old will leave before then at the expiration of his current contract in July 2021.

Gary Neville had more or less confirmed the news that his brother would leave the England post.

"He's got 14 months left on his contract and obviously the Olympics and the European Championships were within that period," Gary told Sky Sports.

"The problem is now obviously with coronavirus, those tournaments have been taken out of the period and international manager's contracts run to tournament ends.

"If the tournaments have gone, then you've got a real problem obviously in the sense that you are just coaching friendlies. I think that's the situation that's developed."

As well as leading the Lionesses, who have lost seven of their last 11 matches in all competitions, into Euro 2021, Phil had been set to lead coach at this summer's Olympic Games.

Phil could still coach the British Olympic team as the Tokyo Games have been pushed back a year to July 2021 — the endpoint for Neville’s contract.

“As a result of the changes to the proposed tournament scheduling we will now be working to plan for a revised match calendar once it is safe and appropriate to do so,” Phil said.

“I am looking forward to getting back to work with the team as soon as possible. We have a fantastic squad of players and there is plenty to work on as we look to progress as a team going into 2021.”