FA chairman David Bernstein admits his tenure will be defined by choosing Roy Hodgson as England manager The FA had said it wanted to make an appointment towards the "back end" of the season and approached West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace last week - only to be told they should wait until after the club's match against Aston Villa on Saturday. At 2pm on Sunday Peace telephoned Hodgson to inform him of the FA's interest and the manager spoke to Bernstein. "It's one of the most important decisions a chairman and board can make, the appointment of a manager, and I won't have too many stabs at this," Bernstein added. I hope this is my only appointment as that would be a great sign of success. We all stand and fall together on this. There were easier appointments. Bernstein said that Hodgson had been given a four-year contract - he would not discuss whether there was a break clause - because it is a natural cycle in international football. This Euros [in Poland and Ukraine] is upon us almost immediately. To do this job properly and successfully, the manager needs that sort of support and time. We think it's important and a sign of confidence. The new manager has not been set any "fixed minimum target" but it is hoped he will take England to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil and the 2016 European Championship in France. Bernstein said that the FA had decided against an interview process because of the high-profile nature of the job. "We felt that, if we did our homework sufficiently strongly, our research thoroughly - in a number of ways that were very convincing - and the whole thing in a measured, professional way, it was better to come up with one favoured candidate than interview a range of people," he explained. Anyone on our short-list would have been high profile. The process doesn't lend itself to that. It's not a corporate appointment. This was our strategy and we're sitting here with our favoured man. Bernstein was adamant that Redknapp had not been approached while the FA has also rejected any suggestions that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was also sounded out. Interestingly Bernstein succumbed to a popular choice in the past, when he was chairman of Manchester City, and appointed Kevin Keegan as the club's manager in 2001 only for that to end messily. He later privately revealed that he had considered David Moyes, then still at Preston North End. "We only approached one club," he insisted on Hodgson. We initially put together a list of names for consideration, then reduced that down in time. Roy emerged as the stand-out name. With the board, we were unanimous in choosing Roy, a manager of vast experience of international and European football. This is the first time the FA have appointed an England manager with any previous experience of international football. He has experience of major tournaments, having taken Switzerland to the World Cup in 1994. He has outstanding contacts through his work with Uefa and Fifa, and can walk into any training ground around the world and command respect. This experience, ability and track record of building teams that made him the outstanding candidate for us I'm extremely happy. It's been handled very professionally, confidentially. We always said we'd make the appointment around now, and we've stuck to our timing. He said West Brom's reaction when the approach was made was "very co-operative. A month earlier it would have been a much bigger problem. We got our timing absolutely right. However it means Hodgson has very little time to prepare for the Euros. The selection process was handled by Bernstein and Bevington along with the FA's director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking and the FA's general secretary Alex Horne. Once Hodgson was chosen, Bernstein then called the members of the FA's main board although they did not have to ratify the decision. Bernstein refuted suggestions that a factor in selecting 64-year-old Hodgson might have been cost - it would have taken £10 million to release Redknapp from his Spurs contract while his wage demands would have been higher - even though his deal at West Brom expires on June 30. "We were driven purely by the desire to get the best person," Bernstein said. Bernstein himself was not the favourite to become FA chairman - when he was chosen in December 2010 ahead of David Dein - but now his time in the role will be defined by the decision to go with Hodgson.