Roy Hodgson achieved arguably the greatest feat of his career to date at the end of the 2007/08 season, masterminding Fulham's escape from Barclays Premier League relegation.

The Croydon-born coach took his first steps in management in 1976, joining Sweden's Halmstads BK. Successful in his first season, Hodgson led the club to their first Allsvenskan league title. Two years later, in 1979, his team repeated that achievement before he returned to England.

His first managerial move was to be one of many in a career spanning 30 years, as the journeyman took charge at Bristol City in 1982. Hodgson struggled to find success with a Robins side in Division Four and facing financial oblivion. After a short spell he left the club, and by 1983 Hodgson was back in Sweden, holding the fort at Malmo FF via a brief term with Orebro SK.

With Malmo, he enjoyed more Allsvenskan success, winning five consecutive titles between 1985/90 and two Swedish Cups. In 1990, having helped to revolutionise the Swedish game, the former Crystal Palace player was on the move again, this time to Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax, where he enjoyed two seasons in charge.

Having amassed nine trophies in his first sixteen years in management, Hodgson had built a solid reputation, and in 1992 was appointed Switzerland's national team manager. The brand of attacking football he employed earned the team a place in the World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years. In the 1994 World Cup the Swiss side qualified from the group stage only to lose 3-0 to Spain in the first knockout phase. Hodgson then instigated qualification to Euro 96, but left his post in November 1995, becoming Inter Milan manager soon after.

With Hodgson at the helm, the Serie A giants reached the 1997 UEFA Cup final, where they were unlucky to lose a penalty shoot-out to Schalke. Following the defeat Hodgson left the club to accept his first Premier League post, with Blackburn Rovers.

Prior to his arrival in June '97, Rovers narrowly avoided relegation from the FA Carling Premiership by a single point. In his first season, Hodgson led the side to a sixth place finish and a UEFA Cup spot, a remarkable turnaround considering he had not made any changes to the squad. The next season, with a string of players injured and a run of poor form, Hodgson was sacked by Blackburn.

The multi-lingual manager returned to Inter Milan for a brief spell in 1999, before moving back to Switzerland to join Grasshopper-club Zurich, with whom he stayed for one season. Next up, he was appointed manager at Denmark's F.C Copenhagen, winning the Superliga in 2000/01, before spending six months in charge of Udinese, prior to having a short break from management.

In April 2002, Hodgson re-emerged, taking up the manager's role with United Arab Emirates. After leading the team to fifth place in the Gulf Cup, Hodgson left his post in January 2004. By May he was in Norway managing Viking F.K, where he stayed until August 2005. He then accepted his third national manager's role, this time with Finland, with whom he helped mount their most successful qualifying campaign ever, acquiring 24 points in their Euro 2008 qualifying group. Despite missing out on qualification, Hodgson was lauded for his ability to adapt his tactics in a side frequently short of attacking options. He chose not to extend his contract in November 2007, instead returning to Inter Milan for a third time, taking up an ambassadorial role.

He was back at the San Siro for just a few weeks before being appointed Fulham manager, returning to the Premier League after a nine-year absence. With the club languishing in 19th, the 60-year-old instilled a new work ethic and encouraged the side to play a more attacking style of football better suited to the top-flight. Within a few months, performances and results improved. Fulham picked up 12 points from their last five matches, stringing together three successive away wins for the first time in their Premier League history. A 1-0 win at Portsmouth on the final day of the 2007/08 season saw Hodgson's Cottagers stay up on goal difference.