Venables, Terry (1943– )

English footballer and coach, he was the England football manager 1994–96.

Although Venables had a solid playing career with Chelsea, Tottenham, Queens Park Rangers, and Crystal Palace, and won two full England caps, his reputation lies in his skills as a coach. He won promotion to the first division for Crystal Palace 1978–79 and then Queens Park Rangers 1982–83, before taking Barcelona (1984–87) to the Spanish League title in 1984–85. After winning the FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspur in 1991, he became the club's chief executive, but was sacked two years later over alleged financial misdealing. These allegations plagued him throughout his time as England manager and led to his decision in January 1996 to relinquish his post after the European Championships later that year.

Career highlights

as player

International appearances (1964) 2 (0 goals)

English League Cup 1965

English FA Cup 1967

as manager

Spanish League Championship 1985

English FA Cup 1991

He became the owner of Portsmouth Football Club in 1997. In the same year, he failed to steer Australia to the 1998 World Cup finals. In early 1998, Venables stood down as chairman of Portsmouth and severed all his connections with the club. Shortly afterwards, he was also disqualified by the High Court from acting as a company director for seven years after agreeing not to contest allegations of serious misconduct brought by the Department of Trade and Industry arising from his management of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and three other companies. He was head coach of Crystal Palace 1998–9, a club he had managed 1976–80. In December 2000, he became first team manager of Middlesbrough, working alongside Bryan Robson until the end of that season, and was manager of Leeds United from July 2002 to March 2003. In 2006, he rejoined the England team, becoming assistant manager to Steve McClaren.