Hodgson went on to earn his coaching badges and a salary as an PE teacher at Dulwich’s Alleyn’s School – although this was in South Africa rather than South London, where he had enjoyed his best playing days with Bob Houghton’s Pretoria side under whom Hodgson had gone to school at John Ruskin grammar school. Hodgson then went on to play for Carshalton, before being recommended by Houghton to Sweden’s Halmstad, who saw in Hodgson a young English coach full of ideas. As manager, Hodgson introduced a number of ideas such as ‘zonal marking’, ‘high pressing’ and ‘fast counter-attacking’. Hodgson would go on to win plenty of silverware at both Halmstad and Malmo in the 1980s, where he would build on Houghton’s success.

Seeking a new challenge in the early 1990s, Hodgson moved to Swiss club Neuchâtel Xamax whom he took into the UEFA Cup, before landing the role of Switzerland’s national manager.

His side reached the last-16 of the 1994 World Cup, despite being drawn alongside Italy, Portugal and Scotland in qualifying, and after easing into Euro 96 came to be ranked as high as third in the FIFA World Rankings.

Having knocked Inter Milan out of the European Cup in 1989 while at Malmo and taking four points off the Italians in World Cup qualifying, Hodgson’s stock in the country was high, and he was duly handed the chance to rebuild an ailing giant. At the end of his first full season he had led Inter to a third-place finish and a UEFA Cup final.

A first taste of the Premier League would follow at Blackburn Rovers, whom he again took into the UEFA Cup. He then claimed another league title in Denmark with FC Copenhagen, before achieving a seemingly impossible task of keeping Fulham, who had won just two league games by December, in the Premier League in 2007/08.

A run of 12 points from the last five games of the season sealed a famous escape, before a superb seventh-place finish in 2008/09 allowed Hodgson to try his luck in Europe once again. What ensued was a fairytale run to the Europa League final, before the Cottagers were pipped to their first major trophy by Atletico Madrid after extra-time.

Such success would lead to spells managing Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, before Hodgson took charge of England in three major finals, overseeing the phasing out of a golden generation while introducing fresh faces and boasting a virtually impeccable record in qualifying.

After a spell out of the game, Hodgson was finally appointed manager of Crystal Palace on 12th September 2017, taking over a side that had lost their first four league games of the season without scoring a single goal.

He went on to secure an eleventh-place finish, before equalling Palace’s best-ever points total in a Premier League campaign (49) the following year.

Having become the only Palace manager ever to secure safety in four consecutive top-flight seasons, and handing debuts to the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tyrick Mitchell and Ebere Eze, Hodgson departed the club at the end of the 2020/21 season.

But it was not to prove Hodgson’s final glory with Palace as, following a brief stint at Watford, the manager returned for the final 10 games of the Eagles’ 2022/23 campaign, charged with keeping the club in the top-flight once more.

He did so in some style, winning five and drawing three to claim another 11th place finish, above the likes of Chelsea and West Ham United.

That form has continued into the opening weeks of the 2023/24, with three wins from the opening five competitive matches of the season.

Having managed in eight countries across three continents over 47 years, English football’s most travelled coach is now once again excelling in his south London homeland.

As the Palace fans themselves chant: “he’s one of our own.”