Dear Gareth
So it's time to say goodbye to Gareth Southgate as England manager. But what an eight years it's been. It was perhaps serendipitous that he got the Three Lions gig at the same time as the idea that led to Behind Every Kick becoming a fully-fledged charity was crystalising. So many of the skills and leadership qualities Southgate has personified during his tenure are ones we try to nourish in the young people attending our programme. It's fair to say the pupils at every school where we have delivered our programme have heard our training team asking them 'What was good about the way Gareth Southgate did that?'
Communication
There are so many examples of Gareth nailing his message, audience and delivery. Perhaps our favourite was the impassioned letter he wrote to England fans at the start of Euro 2020. His players had come under attack from sections of the media and government for taking the knee to highlight racial injustice. Southgate tackled this criticism head-on, explaining why he supported his players' stance in a way that invited the public to rally around the team and challenged us all to consider what it means to be English in the 2020s. The letter was so bloody good it spawned an idea for a smash hit play and television drama.
Pressure
Those of us old enough to remember the pre-Southgate England era will remember how heavy those players selected to represent the national team found wearing the shirt. Many former England stars have said they didn't enjoy being picked for the national team because of the level of scrutiny and stick they encountered. Gareth Southgate changed all that. Who can forget the players at the World Cup in 2018 joyously splashing around with inflatable unicorns in the team's hotel pool? Southgate always directed the credit for good results to his players while taking responsibility for difficult ones himself. England's players were liberated and the team's fortunes were transformed. Having been subject to ridicule having been knocked out by Iceland in Euro 2016, England, on Southgate's watch, reached a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and two consecutive European Championships finals at Euro 2020 and 2024.
Confidence, Motivation, Teamwork and Mindset
Gareth Southgate's defining moment in an England shirt was an awful one. In the semi-final of Euro 96, he missed the sudden death penalty against Germany that sent England out of the competition. That moment fueled him as England manager. Whereas many of his predecessors had subscribed to penalty shootouts being lotteries, Southgate worked with sports psychologists to give his players the confidence they needed to have the best possible chance of success. England's World Cup victory over Colombia saw the team win a penalty shootout for the first time in over 20 years. A huge inherited trauma had been lifted from the national team. England went on to win another penalty shootout in the Nations League. When the final of Euro 2020 was lost on spot kicks, Southgate reviewed the team's process again. It was noticeable in the recent quarter-final victory over Switzerland that each England penalty taker had a 'buddy' to greet them to prevent them from being made to walk back from their kick alone. All five penalties found the net. Resultingly, another facet of Southgate's brilliant legacy is that players coming into the England team in the future who find themselves in a shootout will no longer feel that history is against them.
Opportunity
Gareth Southgate's reign as England manager is a testament to where life can take you if you grab opportunities with both hands. He wasn't even supposed to get the job. He'd been working with the Under 21 team when unforeseen circumstances saw Sam Allardyce sacked after only one game in charge. The FA initially asked Southgate to step in for four games while they searched for a permanent successor. Southgate said 'yes' and those four games led to 98 more. No one has managed the England team more.
Southgate's England was all about cultivating young talent and offering opportunity. Southgate made Harry Kane team captain at 24. The striker has since become England's all-time record goalscorer. Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Marc Guehi have become mainstays of the team while in their early 20s and Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer look set to star alongside them for years to come.
Leadership
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed a crisis of leadership in public life. Gareth Southgate by contrast served to remind the country what real leaders should look like. Integrity, accountability, service and kindness were hallmarks of the Southgate years.
Thank you, Gareth. You've done your country proud.
You'll be missed.