The search for the next England football boss follows the same principles as the Football Association’s retention of its top staff.

At the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) conference on Thursday, Paul Nolan, group director of HR for the FA, disclosed that Sven Goran Eriksson’s eventual successor would come from a pyramid structure of talented coaches.

Nolan spoke as part of a seminar on ‘Managing Talent’, one of the most eagerly awaited of the event, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

He believed that the England manager was “the most critical employee” and any man in the role should show the strong HR values of “leadership, management and judgment.”

A new graduate recruitment programme and increased focus on people with the highest 'equity potential' were new values at the FA.

Nolan revealed that in the last four years over 65% of staff at the FA have moved on as the governing body undertook a rigorous HR-inspired programme to shed its stuffy “blazers” image.