Capello resigns as England boss (From The Northern Echo)

Capello resigns as England boss

7:28pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News

SHOCK RESIGNATION: Fabio Capello

ENGLAND football manager Fabio Capello has resigned with immediate effct, it has been announced.

Capello resigned following a meeting with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley Stadium.

An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager.

"This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.

"The discussions focused on the FA board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview.

"In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect."

Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action, adding: "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner.

"We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision.

"We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

Bernstein and the Club England management team will hold a media conference at Wembley at noon tomorrow.

The shock resignation leaves the FA needing to appoint a replacement as soon as possible.

The next international is later this month, a friendly against Holland on February 29 at Wembley.

The timing of the meeting coincided almost exactly with Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, the outstanding candidate to replace Capello, being cleared of tax evasion charges.

Capello told Italian TV that he absolutely disagreed with the FA's decision to strip Terry of the captaincy until after his July court case where he will deny racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand, and led to the Italian quitting his £6m-a-year post.