England manager Roy Hodgson was 'deadly focussed' on the game - even as a schoolboy, recalls a former classmate.
Richard Humphries, 67, communications manager at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, went to the same school as the England manager.
Both attended the John Ruskin Grammer School in Croydon, where Hodgson was in the year above Mr Humphries in the early 1960s.
'He was a very quiet, but very polite young man,' recalled Mr Humphries. 'I didn't know him that much because at the school you were either into music or sport - I was into music and he was into sport. He was deadly focused on sport.'
Mr Humphries said Hodgson was friends and with Steve Kember, who went on to play for Crystal Palace in the 1970s and 80s.
'Everyone supported Crystal Palace at the school,' said Mr Humphries. 'Roy and Steve used to play for the school football team together, then Steve went onto play for Crystal Palace.'
Hodgson went onto be a youth player for Crystal Palace but didn't make it to the first team and then went onto play non-league football.
Mr Humpries said of Hodgson's recent stint in the Word Cup: 'He's a clever guy but in the end we were outclassed by better players in the World Cup. I hope they keep him on as manager. He deserves more time to build a really good team.'
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