2025-11-09 10:33:39
Sir Gareth Southgate knew the time was right to quit as England manager when fans threw beer at him in Euro 2024.
The former England coach had alcohol thrown at him by angry supporters after the Three Lions drew 0-0 with Slovenia in the group stage, which made him realise it was time for him to step aside at the end of the tournament.
Speaking on his Lessons on Leadership tour, Southgate said: “Maybe even at the World Cup (in 2022), that would have been a good time to go.
“Then during the tournament, it just confirmed in my mind when I went over to the crowd at the end and they were throwing beer at me.
“It’s probably a message that it’s time to move on a bit, isn’t it?”
Southgate was offered a new contract by the FA prior to last year’s tournament but opted not to sign it as he knew it would “polarise” supporters.
He recalled: “The FA offered me a new contract about eight months before and that was absolutely the right thing to do from their point of view.
“Continuity, stability, not being in the lap of the gods of what might happen in a tournament.
“That was correct forward planning. I felt it gives me stability, I know where I’ll be heading.
“But I knew there was a polarisation of fans and I felt to sign at that time wouldn’t be right.”
Southgate – who led England to the final of Euro 2024 – was keen to avoid replicating former Three Lions boss Fabio Capello, who signed a new contract shortly before the national team’s disastrous World Cup campaign in 2010.
He said: “I remember Fabio Capello signing pre-tournament and that landed badly and almost put more pressure on the team.
“I felt as though I needed to go into the tournament, that left me on a lifeline. I was happy to do that.
“And I knew we probably needed to win because we’d been to a final, lost, the reaction to that, I knew what that was going to be.”
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