Wayne Rooney is back in England to take charge of Birmingham City… so what became of the rest of England’s ‘Golden Generation’?

• England assembled a ‘Golden Generation’ of players in the 2000s
• They failed to win a major tournament under Sven-Goran Eriksson
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’

England assembled arguably their most talented group of players ever in the early 2000s and were swiftly dubbed the ‘Golden Generation’.

Yet they failed to win a major tournament as the Three Lions suffered three straight quarter-final exits under Sven-Goran Eriksson, which included blowing their best chance at Euro 2004 as they lost to Portugal on penalties.

Now Gareth Southgate has a squad that may be just as good as Eriksson’s team, and his side will be hoping to finally end England’s tournament drought at next year’s Euros. 

Mail Sport’s James Sharpe takes a look at Eriksson’s ‘Golden Generation’ and what has happened to them since, after star striker Wayne Rooney returned to England on Wednesday to take charge of Championship club Birmingham City.

England had a team full of world-class players at Euro 2004, but only made the quarter-finals

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GK: David James

Coaching stints at Luton Town and Icelandic clubs IBV and Throttur Vogar as well as two spells as manager of Indian side Kerala Blasters, most recently in 2018.

RB: Gary Neville

Served as assistant to Roy Hodgson through Euro 2012, the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. He also had an infamous four-month spell as head coach of Valencia in 2015.

Gary Neville had a disastrous spell at Valencia in 2015 that lasted just four months

CB: John Terry

Assistant to Dean Smith during Aston Villa’s promotion to the Premier League in 2019 as well as Leicester’s relegation last season.

CB: Sol Campbell

Kept Macclesfield in the Football League in 2019 but relegated from League One with Southend in 2020. Now without a club and says he feels ‘banished out of football’.

LB: Ashley Cole

Coached Chelsea’s Under 16s and was Lee Carsley’s assistant with England Under 21s before being first-team coach at Everton under Frank Lampard. Joining Rooney at Birmingham.

RM: David Beckham

Never went into coaching but owns Inter Miami, the MLS side who signed Lionel Messi.

David Beckham now owns MLS outfit Inter Miami, who signed Lionel Messi this summer

CM: Frank Lampard

Took Derby into the play-offs in 2019 before taking Chelsea job and reaching the FA Cup final. Dismal spell at Everton before a brief and unsuccessful return as Chelsea caretaker manager.

CM: Steven Gerrard

Began his coaching career with Liverpool’s youngsters before winning the Scottish Premiership with Rangers in 2021. Sacked by Aston Villa after less than a year before a big-money move to Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq.

LM: Paul Scholes

Ryan Giggs’s assistant during his brief interim tenure at Manchester United. Had two caretaker spells at Salford City either side of seven games in charge of Oldham Athletic before resigning over interference from the owner.

ST: Michael Owen

Chose punditry instead of coaching, though he did recently say he would ‘jump at the chance’ to manage Liverpool but ‘can’t be bothered’ to build a career in the lower leagues.

ST: Wayne Rooney

Kept Derby in the Championship against the odds in 2021 but relegated the next season amid administration and a points deduction before a move to MLS side DC United. Left the club this week and now appointed as the new manager of Birmingham City.

Wayne Rooney has left the US behind to return to England and take charge of Birmingham

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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