GARETH Southgate has resigned as England manager after failing to win a major trophy on four attempts.
England lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday, their second consecutive defeat in the final stage of that tournament after also losing to Italy in Euro 2020.
The team also failed to make it past the semi-finals of the world cup under Southgate, losing to France in the quarter finals in 2022 and Croatia in the semi-finals in 2018.
Southgate has been managing the England team since 2016, and news that he would step down was announced by the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday.
“As a proud Englishman, it has been the honour of my life to play for England and to manage England. It has meant everything to me and I have given it my all,” he said in a statement.
“But it’s time for change and for a new chapter. Sunday’s final in Berlin against Spain was my final game as England manager.”
Southgate took charge following England’s ignominious exit to Iceland in the 2016 Euros, and the short-lived reign of Sam Allardyce.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham paid tribute to Southgate’s achievements, and indicated the process to find Southgate’s successor “is now under way”.
He said the FA had an “interim solution in place if needed”, with the team’s next matches coming in the Nations League in September.
Southgate himself backed his players to go on and “win the trophy we all dream of” in the future.
“I am so proud of them, and I hope we get behind the players and the team at St George’s Park and the FA who strive every day to improve English football and understand the power football has to drive positive change,” he said.
“My special thanks go to the backroom staff who have provided the players and me with unstinting support over the last eight years. Their hard work and commitment inspired me every day and I am so grateful to them – the brilliant ‘team behind the team’.
“We have the best fans in the world, and their support has meant the world to me. I’m an England fan and I always will be.”
