There are several members of football’s elite who could take exception to their portrayals in Dear England, a new play at the National Theatre about Gareth Southgate’s transformation of the England team, but Southgate himself is not one of them.
Softly-spoken, thoughtful and unassuming, Southgate is not an easy figure to play, but Joseph Fiennes’ portrayal of him as a patient and decent revolutionary, haunted by his penalty miss at Euro ‘96, rings true.
Fiennes expertly captures Southgate’s essence, mannerisms and all, but characteristically the England manager has no plans to see the production (“It wouldn’t feel right, I don’t know what to make of it, really,” he has said).
Of the memorable lines, Southgate’s admission that, “There’s a lot about this game I don’t like... but I love it,” sums up his often complicated relationship with modern football, as well as perhaps modern England as well.
Many of the key storylines and scandals from Southgate’s tenure are there – from the decline of Dele Alli to England Women’s “showing the men how it’s done” by winning the European Championship – and the manager’s core mission of changing the national team’s culture by reminding his players of their place in history while simultaneously relieving them of the burdens of past failures is at the heart of the play.
The character of psychologist Pippa Grange, the Football Association’s former head of people and team development, is perhaps given undue prominence in England’s cultural revolution, particularly given she left her post before Euro 2020.
Appearances from the three most recent former Prime Ministers are an important reminder that Southgate was appointed shortly after the Brexit vote divided the nation, and his role has often been more than that of simply football manager. The scepticism and vitriol Southgate has occasionally received from supporters and sections of the media is cleverly characterised by a fictional fitness coach, who considers Southgate and Grange to be “soft”.
While Southgate’s character is well-pitched, that is less true for some of his players, who are caricatured for comic effect, albeit not unkindly.
Harry Kane, who has built his a career on an unwavering self-belief, appears riddled with uncertainties, questioning why he has been made England captain and his own communication skills (Kane is actually an impressive communicator and one of the first players to front up to the media in tough circumstances).
Kane’s response to his own penalty miss in the quarter-final of last winter’s World Cup also feels uncharacteristic, although is necessary for the play’s finale.
