England manager Roy Hodgson honoured with a knighthood from Finland

Sep 29, 2012 1:25:00 PM

The Three Lions boss received the award thanks to his time spent as manager of the the Scandinavian side's national team during which they recorded their highest ever Fifa ranking

England manager Roy Hodgson has been honoured with a knighthood from Finland, over six years after he was appointed manager of their national side.

Hodgson spent just under two years in Helsinki and was in charge of the Eagle Owls from January 2006 to November 2007, taking them to their highest ever Fifa ranking and finishing one goal away from qualifying for Euro 2008, in what would have been the nation's first ever major tournament.

Hodgson told the FA website: "I enjoyed my life [in Finland] very much. Not only in football, but outside of it as well.

"I hope that my relationship with Finland, which is already great, becomes even greater.”

Hodgson received his award from the Ambassador of Finland to the United Kingdom, H.E. Pekka Huhtaniemi, and he was full of praise for the 65-year-old.

"Roy's time as the manager of Finland lifted the level of Finnish football culture and made Finland internationally better known as a football nation," Mr Huhtaniemi said.

"Roy brought with him a higher degree of professionalism and a more disciplined style of playing."

Hodgson's attention will now turn to next month's World Cup 2014 qualifier at Wembley, against San Marino on October 12.