Capello resigned following a meeting with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley Stadium.

An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager."

This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.

"The discussions focused on the FA board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview. In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect."

Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action. The FA chairman said: "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

The shock resignation brings an end to Capello's four years in charge of England - he had been due to step down after the European Championship and leaves the FA needing to appoint a replacement as soon as possible.

The next international is later this month, a friendly against Holland on February 29 at Wembley.

The timing of the meeting coincided almost exactly with Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, the outstanding candidate to replace Capello, being cleared of tax evasion charges.

The FA's decision to go over Capello's head and strip Terry of the captaincy until after his July court case where he will deny racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand led to the Italian quitting his £6m-a-year post. Capello told Italian TV that he "absolutely" disagreed with the action against Terry and that set him on a collision course with the FA.