AMATEUR football manager Neil Sim believes he is the man for the England job - and the Football Association might agree with him.

For Neil (pictured), who manages an office football team in Preston, jokingly applied for the country's top soccer job after Glenn Hoddle was axed from the post earlier this month.

But he didn't expect to get a letter back from the FA, saying his application was being considered.

And, if continuity is the key to England's success, Neil, of Crookings Lane, Penwortham, may have one advantage over the high-profile candidates expected to clamour for the job of head coach - he is distantly related to Kevin Keegan!

Neil, who works at the Department for Social Security in Preston, said: "I was talking about football with the lads at work and they were moaning that the side we play in, which I also manage, had come bottom of the league.

"I told them if they didn't want me then I would apply for the England job. They laughed, so I went ahead and did it. I rang up the FA in London and they gave me all the details."

Two weeks later striker Neil, 28, received a letter, telling him a sub-committee was being set up to consider applications and that they appreciated him taking the time to apply for the job. Neil - Keegan is his cousin's step-uncle - added: "It's all a bit of a joke really. I didn't even expect to get a reply."

A spokesman for the FA, based at Lancastergate, London, confirmed Neil's application had arrived, adding: "It will be looked at with all the many other applications."

The FA's acting chief executive David Davies added: "We have received many interesting applications for the job from all sorts of people and they will all be looked at."

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