Crystal Palace have confirmed the appointment of Roy Hodgson as their new manager on a two-year deal.
The former England boss succeeds Frank de Boer who was dismissed just four games into the new Premier League season with Palace yet to pick up a point, or score a goal.
The 70-year-old, whose managerial career spans five decades and 15 clubs in eight countries, including leading four national teams, told the club's official website: "This is very much the club of my boyhood and I remember in my youth watching the club from the terraces at the Holmesdale Road end which gave me such fond memories.
"In those days I had dreams of playing for the team, then as a coach you think about coaching the team and a lot has happened in between times.
"It is very rewarding to find myself here now, in different times, as the Palace manager at a club that I have always loved and admired with a huge potential. We are the club of south London, with an enormously large fan base. The ambitions here are realistic and there is an enormous potential for growth and I hope we can achieve our goals.
"I am very excited to be back in club football and it is a long while since I have enjoyed the day to day sessions of training.”
Though he was delighted to return to management for the first time since leaving his England role just over a year ago, Hodgson expressed sympathy for his predecessor - whose sole victory came in the EFL Cup against Championship side Ipswich Town.
"I've always got sympathy for managers who lose their jobs but it's a fact of life," he added on Sky Sports.
"It's not my business, it's the business of the club. I'm pleased that they've turned to me and allowed me to take the job on."