Former England’s manager Roy Hodgson watches the international friendly football match against Turkey at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England, on May 22, 2016. Hodgson has been named manager of Crystal Palace until the end of the Premier League season. The team says the 75-year-old former England coach will return to Selhurst Park as a replacement for Patrick Vieira. (AP Photo/Jon Super).
LONDON (AP) — Roy Hodgson is back in the Premier League at the age of 75.
Crystal Palace turned to the former England coach to keep the team in the lucrative top division, announcing his return to the club on Tuesday as the replacement for the fired Patrick Vieira.
Hodgson’s deal only runs until the end of the season. He was in charge of Palace from 2017-21 then said he was retiring from coaching, only to return for a brief spell at Watford at the end of last season.
Palace, which are his boyhood club, are in 12th place in the 20-team league but only three points above the relegation zone after a 12-match winless run.
“It is a privilege to be asked to return to the club, which has always meant so much to me, and to be given the important task of turning the team’s fortunes around,” Hodgson, a former Liverpool and Fulham manager, said. “Our sole objective now is to start winning matches, and to get the points necessary to ensure our Premier League status.”
Vieira was fired on Friday.
Hodgson, who coached England from 2012-16, is already the oldest manager to take charge of a Premier League game.
