Aidy Boothroyd to leave role as England Under-21 head coach with immediate effect
By Ross Jackson
Aidy Boothroyd is to leave his role as head coach of the England Under-21 squad with immediate effect after their disappointing display at the European Championships last month.
The former Watford boss has been a part of the England development squads since 2014, taking charge of both the U19 and the U20 sides before taking the step up to the U21 squad in 2016.
His time as U21 boss has been littered with underwhelming major tournament displays - having failed to lead the Young Lions out of the group stages at either Euro 2019 or Euro 2021 - though he did come within a penalty shootout of reaching the final of the 2017 edition of the competition.
The FA took to their official website to confirm the news of his departure, adding that the search for his successor would begin immediately, and Boothroyd took the chance to express his pride at having worked with so many talented youngsters.
“It's been the greatest privilege to represent the FA and lead England teams into high-profile tournaments," he said.
"While we didn’t finish in the way we wanted, I'm very proud to have been able to work so closely with players who I know will go on to have remarkable international careers and to have experienced some very special moments with them over the years.
"I'd like to thank my staff and all of the incredible support team that have done so much to help us remain competitive against other elite nations. In every single get-together they embraced our unique challenge of rightly prioritising the needs of the senior team while ensuring we gave our all to try and get a positive performance and result.”
We can confirm that #YoungLions coach Aidy Boothroyd is to depart the @FA after a seven-year spell with the organisation:
— England (@England) April 16, 2021
Senior squad manager Gareth Southgate has reaped the rewards of Boothroyd's hard work having inherited a number of talented youngsters from the development squads, and he took the opportunity to thank him for his efforts.
"I’d like to thank Aidy for his wholehearted support and dedication to developing English players and coaches across the last seven years," he said.
"His pride in working with all of our development teams has shone through and his support of the senior team has been greatly appreciated. I wish him every success on the next step of his career.”