Former chairman slams 'amateur' English FA

London - A former chairman of England's governing Football Association has said the organisation has "failed" over the last 10 years because of its "amateur structure".

England's humiliating exit from Euro 2016 at the hands of rank outsiders Iceland sparked the resignation of manager Roy Hodgson and led to a fresh bout of soul-searching regarding the state of the English game.

David Bernstein, the FA chairman from 2011-2013, said changing the England manager was unlikely to produce better results unless there were also major changes at boardroom level.

"I have thought all along that the government needs to get very serious about this and think about appointing a regulator to get this sorted out. I cannot see any other way," Bernstein told the Sunday Telegraph.

England have not won a major tournament since lifting the World Cup on home soil in 1966 and Bernstein said: "Over 50 years, different managers, all of whom are credible when they arrive, come into this position, and their time ends in something approaching disaster.

"Looking at the trend of performance, probably over the last 10 or 12 years, this is getting worse, not better.

"The last couple of World Cups and European Championships, we have done particularly badly.

"It was said of the FA by a government parliamentary select committee and others that it is not fit for purpose. In my view, you have got pretty professional management there who are operating in an amateur structure. It is a structure that is not modern and is not independent.

"We have got a succession now of chairmen from different backgrounds who, again, all come in with credibility -- and chief executives as well -- whose time finishes unsatisfactorily."

Bernstein said in recent years three consecutive chairmen "have all tried to introduce some modernisation and, by and large, have failed".

The FA was "failing", especially in terms of trying to balance the power of the Premier League, he said.

"And, as long as it continues to fail, and as long as it continues not to modernise, this situation will just continue.

"You can take any manager you like but a fish rots from the head and if you do not get the head right then the rest will not be right."