Mark Sampson sacked as England Women’s football manager
Dramatic decision comes as details of 2015 safeguarding report emerge
Mark Sampson has been sacked as England Women’s manager a day after he watched his side thrash Russia 6-0 in a World Cup qualifying match.
The dramatic decision was announced by Football Association chief Martin Glenn at what The Independent described as a “hastily-convened press briefing at Wembley” yesterday afternoon.
Glenn took the step after reading an FA safeguarding report into Sampson, which was first published in 2015, in response to his behaviour at Bristol, where he ran the 16 to 19 programme and coached the club’s women’s first team.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The full report of that investigation was only made known to me at the end of last week,” Glenn said at the press conference.
“On reading it I immediately shared it with Greg [Clarke, FA chairman] and we were both deeply concerned with the contents of the report. Mark had overstepped the professional boundaries between player and coach.
“When I first read the report I absorbed it and took Greg through it and we both agreed that Mark’s position was untenable and we shared it with the board over the weekend.”
Sampson left Bristol Academy to become England women’s manager in December 2013, reports The Independent, and the following year the FA “was made aware of the allegations concerning his inappropriate relationships” in his previous job.
A safeguarding panel examined the allegations and subsequently cleared Sampson to continue to be a “participant in football”, although he was sent him on a development and mentoring programme to learn the appropriate boundaries between coach and player.
At yesterday’s press conference, Clarke said of the allegations levelled against Sampson that “some could be categorised as trivial, some as very serious, none as criminal”.
Sampson had already been the subject of unsavoury allegations, The Guardian reported last month, when Chelsea Ladies and England striker Eniola Aluko accused him of making racist comments.
He denied the claims, and was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent investigation led by barrister Katharine Newton. The FA says that Aluko’s allegations had no bearing on his dismissal.
According to the Independent “an anonymous tip-off last week from someone outside the organisation” led the FA to re-examine the 2015 safeguarding report into Sampson and as a result he was relieved of his duties.
Asked to explain the failure to act after the report was initially published, Glenn said: “The safeguarding work was appropriate but we think the failing in our particular case was the organisation’s ability to balance the critical need for total confidentiality… with the judgement about how much of that information should be shared on more holistic decisions about general conduct.”
The Times claims that the FA was warned about Sampson’s reputation before they appointed him manager of the women’s team, with the paper quoting a source saying: “Everyone in the women’s game knew what Mark Sampson was like.”
Reacting to Sampson’s dismissal, sports minister Tracey Crouch described the situation as “a mess”, adding that it “raises very serious questions about whether the historic process that the FA had in place around the recruitment of coaches were appropriate, for something like this to have been missed”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The wit and wisdom of Sven-Göran Eriksson
In Depth The first foreign coach to manage England on football, life and death
By The Week Staff Published
-
Can England's Euros team hold their nerve?
Today's Big Question Three Lions' 'lopsided' opening win over Serbia raises more questions than it answers
By The Week UK Published
-
The England kit: a furore over the flag
Why everyone's talking about Nike's redesign of the St George's Cross on the collar of the English national team's shirt has caused controversy
By The Week UK Published
-
Lionesses will have regrets but their legacy can be ‘incredible’
feature England stars return home after heartbreaking Women’s World Cup final loss to Spain
By Mike Starling Published
-
How English women’s football could become a billion pound industry
feature Building on the success of the Lionesses won’t be easy but it is eminently possible
By The Week Staff Published
-
Lionesses dig deep after Lauren James’s ‘Beckham-esque’ red card
feature England reach the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals after a 4-2 win on penalties against Nigeria
By Mike Starling Published
-
Curse of the Lionesses: what’s causing spate of England women’s football injuries?
Under the Radar Several key players are out of the World Cup, raising concerns about hectic schedules, sub-par pitches and sexism
By Harriet Marsden Published
-
‘Captain fantastic’: Harry Kane’s most memorable England goals
feature Kane has overtaken Wayne Rooney as the Three Lions’s all-time leading goalscorer
By Mike Starling Published