LONDON, (AFP) - Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager on a four-year contract, the Football Association announced Tuesday.

The West Bromwich Albion boss emerged as the surprise front-runner for the England job on Sunday as the FA confirmed it had ignored the popular clamour for Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp to be appointed.

The FA has scheduled a press conference at Wembley at 4pm local time (1500GMT) Tuesday.

Hodgson held around four hours of discussions with senior FA officials at Wembley on Monday, paving the way for the 64-year-old's appointment to the most demanding role in English football.

Since Italian coach Fabio Capello resigned as England manager in February, in protest at the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, Stuart Pearce has been in caretaker charge of the national side.

That is despite the former England defender also being the manager of England's Under-21s and the British Olympic team.

Concerns have been raised about the FA's 'delay' in getting a permanent manager on board so close to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, where England begin the tournament against France in Donetsk on June 11.

Hodgson's first game as England manager will be the warm-up match away to Norway in Oslo on May 26.

That is followed by another friendly, with Belgium at Wembley on June 2, before their Euro 2012 opener.