Gareth Southgate: How he taught England to be ‘deeply patriotic and deeply proud’

In brief...

• Gareth Southgate showcased "progressive patriotism," fostering an inclusive Englishness and positive fan behavior through his actions and leadership.
• His tenure helped create a more respectful and peaceful atmosphere among England fans.
• Southgate stepped down after the 2024 Euros final, with media scrutiny and the rapid news cycle driving a perceived need for change.

If the term “progressive patriotism” makes you think about Nigel Farage or Lee Anderson, you’re not alone.

But that’s not who The News Agents are talking about today.

Instead, Lewis Goodall and Jon Sopel are praising the work of former England manager Gareth Southgate, and how he has changed football in the country, noting how “progressive patriotism” can mean more than hanging an England flag from your bedroom window, or tucking into a 'racist’ full English breakfast.

Southgate stepped down this week from his manager role following England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the 2024 Euros final. The tournament united the country and, despite falling at the final hurdle, brought positivity to fans with one of England’s best performances in an international competition in years.

But his achievements reached far beyond the stadium football pitches.

“I think he managed to do something that people in politics have often talked about but often struggled to achieve, which is a progressive way of talking about Englishness that is not boreish, that is not lairy, not nationalistic, but is deeply patriotic and deeply proud,” says Lewis.

“England has so few cultural institutions of its own. It's a weird nation. It's a country which has such a strong sense of itself, and such a weak one at the same time.

“It's one that, apart from the England football team, does not have its own political institutions. We don't have many of our own cultural institutions, they all get subsumed by the British whole, unlike Scotland and Wales. But the England football team is somewhere where Englishness rests, and I think he articulated that and had the custodianship of that so admirably.”

But Southgate’s sense of “Englishness” looked very different to how many perceive it.

In 2022, following the Black Lives Matter protests across the UK and much of the world, Southgate’s England team took the knee before its match against Iran in Dubai.  He spoke in support of the OneLove armband at the event, where it was ultimately banned due to the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws. He opened up about his mental health struggles as a young player, and had an appreciation of the pressures his team faced when they were under the spotlight in international competitions.

"I'm sure there are going to be thesis written and PhDs about his impact, actually – without overstating this – on the country,” says Gabby Logan – the host of The News Agent’s sister podcast, The Sports Agents.

“That kind of father of the nation role that he has been able to adopt, while he's been head of the England setup, the head coach, the face, the voice – taking that responsibility.”

Gabby also praised how his approach had opened up the men’s game to more female fans, and decreased the violent behaviour of England supporters at previous tournaments, such as the storming of Wembley four years ago, where a review found the actions of “ticketless, drunken and drugged-up thugs" could have caused deaths at the Euro 2020 final.

“I just don't think it's a coincidence with the way he leads and talks as to how, while the fans might have voiced their disquiet at certain games, and they will say that's their right, actually, there has been a prevailing kind of mood of peace amongst fans when they've travelled,” she adds.

“England fans, as we know, have not always had that reputation”

Jon says he is both “sad” and “relieved” to see Southgate quit the job, adding he believes the former manager has “gone as far as he was going to go,” but Lewis believes this sentiment has been affected by the speed in which UK media works, and its constant search for the next big headline.

“The rate of the news cycle has accelerated so much, so people just get bored,” Lewis says.

“You can see in Southgate's trajectory as a media story, you can see the arc of it: Here's a guy with an astonishing personal connection to this team, and something to prove, and he wants to exorcise that day in Euro 96 when he didn't get the penalty.

“No one has any expectation, but wow, he does really well, and he keeps carrying the wave and it keeps going – and then suddenly, it all sort of goes away."

Bringing the football chat back to politics of course, Lewis doubts even long-running UK Prime Ministers such as Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair would be able to hold onto power for as long today, for the exact same reason.

“You could feel it in this tournament, in terms of the media treatment of him, it was like they just wanted a new story to write, which is of his failure, his decline."

Listen to the discussion in full on The News Agents.