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ROY HODGSON resigned as England manager following his side’s humiliating 2-1 defeat by tiny Iceland in the Euro 2016 last 16 on Monday.

Hodgson’s contract was due to expire after the tournament and following the match in Nice, he read a pre-prepared statement at his post-game press conference in which he said that he would not be seeking to continue.

“I would have loved to stay on for another two years. However, I am pragmatic and I know we are in the results business,” said the 68-year-old, who succeeded Fabio Capello as manager in 2012.

“My contract was always up after the Euros, so now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extremely talented group of players.”

Hodgson left the press conference room immediately after reading out his statement and a Football Association press officer said that he would not be performing any other media interviews.

Hodgson said that his assistants, Ray Lewington and former Manchester United captain Gary Neville, would also be standing aside.

Roy Hodgson says England’s 2-1 loss to Iceland and exit from Euro 2016 will cause longer-term “damage” to the team.

And Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn said it was now “imperative” to find out why England were “brittle” at tournaments.

Hodgson, who resigned after Monday’s game, repeatedly questioned why he had to attend a news conference yesterday.

But he said: “One particularly bad game has caused a lot of damage to me personally and the team going forward.”

Hodgson added: “We have a major bridge to repair – had we played better last night that might not need repairing.”

England won just one of their four games at the tournament in France, qualifying second from their group to reach the last 16, where they suffered the humiliating defeat by a nation with a population of just 330,000.

Hodgson said there were no “magic answers” to explain England’s performance at the European Championship, where they also drew with Russia and Slovakia and beat Wales with a last-minute winner.

Glenn did not rule out appointing a foreign manager as Hodgson’s successor, adding: “We are looking for the best person, not necessarily the best Englishman.”

But he said the key thing to address was England’s regular failure, which has seen them reach only three semi-finals at a major tournament since they won the 1966 World Cup as hosts.

“We need to punch our weight in tournaments in a way that we have not done in 50 years,” added Glenn. — BBC Sport