Gareth Southgate’s Resignation: The End of an EraGareth Southgate’s Resignation: The End of an Era Gareth Southgate has stepped down as England manager, leaving behind a remarkable legacy. Despite achieving unprecedented success for England in recent years, he ultimately fell short of the ultimate prize. Accomplishments and Regrets Southgate’s tenure saw England reach the semi-finals of two consecutive European Championships and the final of Euro 2024. He praised his team’s achievements but acknowledged their inability to “take that last step.” This regret reflects England’s historical struggles in major tournaments. Southgate’s Impact Southgate implemented a culture of respect and unity within the England squad, which earned him widespread admiration. His dignified and dedicated service saw him become the longest-serving England manager of his lifetime. He leaves behind a strong platform for his successor. Next Steps Southgate’s resignation raises questions about the future of English football. Potential successors include managers who have excelled at club level, but the difference between club and international management raises uncertainties. Club Management Ambitions Southgate has expressed interest in returning to club management, but it remains to be seen whether he can replicate his England success in the competitive club landscape. Manchester United’s need for cultural change could make him a candidate for the role. A Return to England Despite leaving the England manager position, Southgate’s future may still lie with the Football Association. His experience and understanding of English football make him a potential future candidate for roles such as technical director, chief executive, or chairman. Legacy and Recognition Southgate’s tenure as England manager has been transformative. He has reshaped the team’s identity, earned worldwide respect, and laid the foundation for future success. His legacy will endure as an example of a gentle revolutionary who guided England to new heights.
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Gareth Southgate’s final thought was probably the one that hurt the most. “It’s the last step we didn’t get to take,” he reflected in his final answer as England manager. He listed the achievements, a first final on foreign soil, two successive European Championships, just one defeat in 14 games – not counting penalties – in those two tournaments, but said: “At the moment none of that matters.”
It was a clue. Southgate was a defeated man. He’s not the first manager to reach the end of his rope in Berlin, but after eight years of dignified and dedicated service, the greatest England manager of his lifetime – and he was born a few months after West Germany knocked his country out of the 1970 World Cup – knew he wouldn’t join Sir Alf Ramsey in the pantheon of winners. Perhaps someone else will: Southgate leaves behind an even better platform than Ramsey, given that the managerial knight was sacked after England’s failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. The talent of the players, the youth and the strength in depth could enable Southgate’s successor to win the 2026 World Cup or, more likely, Euro 2028 on home soil. Take the culture he instilled, add more attacking prowess and security in possession and he might well resemble England’s Bill Shankly, his replacement the Bob Paisley of this particular equation.
England’s history, however, suggests they are in decline, and that the Southgate years may forever remain an anomaly: four consecutive tournaments in which they outlasted Germany. He was an English version of Didier Deschamps or Joachim Low, only without the crowning glory of a trophy. But he won more knockout matches than any manager of the previous five decades between them. In England’s century and a half of international football, no one else has been directly involved in two finals and two more semi-finals; the first as a player, the second as a manager. Southgate stands alone.
Gareth Southgate embraces Marc Guehi during the final against Spain (Environmental Protection Authority)
He also resigned when the FA and the players wanted him to stay. Some of the public did not. Southgate remarked on Friday: “We live in an angry country.” He can testify: it didn’t take much to turn the atmosphere around England’s most successful manager in half a century toxic. That Southgate offered more basic decency than the governments had for most of his tenure, more respect and faith in people, more willingness to see their potential and bring them together, made him the right kind of figurehead. And yet people turned against him.
English football has been far from brilliant for most of Euro 2024. The style of play has been a reason to question Southgate’s coaching abilities and curse him with faint praise. It also raises the question of what comes next. Some of the managers of Euro 2024 have been excellent performers at club level: Luciano Spalletti, an abject failure with Italy, Julian Nagelsmann, who revived Germany, and Deschamps, though his Champions League final appearance is a thing of the past. But the tournament was won by Luis de la Fuente, who has worked within the Spanish Football Federation since being sacked by Alaves in 2011 after just four wins. Club and country are increasingly different.
There have long been hints that Southgate is restless; 15 years after leaving Middlesbrough, he is keen to scratch in the club game. Whether his skills will allow him to compete with Pep Guardiola and the Guardiolistas on a weekly basis remains to be seen. The idea is that he has not performed for eight years with England while rejecting offers from leading clubs. That he has admirers under the new Manchester United regime could be instructive, and not just because Erik ten Hag only stayed after Ineos had considered a host of other candidates at a time when Southgate was focused on England. Their need for a cultural reboot could work in his favour. But while Roy Hodgson could fit back into life at mid-table clubs and Bobby Robson was initially a successful export before sentimentally returning home to Newcastle, many managers – from Ramsey to Fabio Capello, Don Revie to Sven-Goran Eriksson – have struggled to find success after England.
Southgate walks past the European Cup (Environmental Protection Authority)
And yet the jobs that suit Southgate best are probably England. It’s a recurring theme in his career – he never played in the Champions League as a player, but he did rack up half a century of caps – and in his life; Southgate last week recalled celebrating Bryan Robson’s first-minute goal against France in 1982 and David Platt’s 119th-minute winner against Belgium at the 1990 World Cup.
He has tried to define Englishness in a way that wasn’t about underachievement and missed penalties, in a way that has gained respect worldwide. It’s one reason why the US Soccer Federation, after their profoundly foolish handling of Jurgen Klopp, shouldn’t be targeting Southgate.
Instead, the Football Association belongs to him, the one who never wanted him to leave. The FA should approach him in the future, when the time is right. Eventually, Southgate should return to England, as technical director, chief executive or chairman. For now, he leaves as the gentle revolutionary, the man who transformed the England team but did everything except take that final step.
