Steve McClaren accepted responsibility for England’s failure to qualify for next year’s European Championship, hours after being sacked as coach.

Despite wanting to stay on as coach, his team’s 3-2 defeat to Croatia left England without a major tournament to contend for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.

“Ultimately it’s my responsibility, my job,” McClaren said. “When I took it on I said I’d live and die by results, and I’d live and die by qualification. Judge me on that - and people have.”

After Wednesday’s defeat at Wembley Stadium, McClaren had ruled out resigning. But Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson announced yesterday morning that the former Middlesbrough manager’s contract had been terminated after an emergency meeting by the 12-man FA board.

“It is a sad day to be relieved of my post and I understand the decision of the FA,” McClaren said. “I have never walked away from anything and I never wanted to. There was no reason to.

“The decision was taken out of my hands.”

McClaren had a forlorn introduction to international management after succeeding Sven-Goran Eriksson following the 2006 World Cup.

The Swede’s former assistant lost in Croatia 2-0 after a disastrous experiment with a 3-5-2 formation, followed by dire goalless draws against Macedonia and at Israel.

But he reversed the stuttering form to win five straight matches 3-0 in Group E. Last month, his players were just 20 minutes from qualifying until Russia rallied to win 2-1.

The team’s fate then relied last weekend on Israel and Macedonia, who handed McClaren two lifelines by overcoming Russia and Croatia, meaning a draw against the Croats would suffice.

“I am a better coach than I was 18 months ago,” McClaren said. “It was a failure but I will learn from that and move on.”

But no previous England manager had lost three matches in a qualifying campaign.

“I’m not making any excuses, we had enough games to do it,” McClaren said. “I’m taking full responsibility. Results didn’t go our way and I paid the price ... I’m just hugely disappointed.”

Still, he vowed to make a swift return to management.

“All I can do is concentrate on getting over this huge disappointment and looking forward,” McClaren said. “Although it is a sad day I will recover, bounce back and wait for my next challenge.

“I’m not one to lie on a beach.”

Despite being fired over the phone at 9.30 GMT by FA chief executive Brian Barwick, McClaren maintained that he had unwavering backing from the organization’s officials throughout his reign.

“The support I’ve had from everybody over the 18 months but particularly, the last six weeks, has been fantastic from everybody,” McClaren said. “I’ve always had support from the FA, they have been very good to me.

“The support from the players has been fantastic. I’ve worked with them for six years now and the players I’ve worked with, no matter what people say and the criticism coming their way, they are a fantastic bunch of players.”