English football fans may never agree on Gareth Southgate’s footballing legacy, and will long debate whether he deprived the so-called golden generation of ending 58 years of hurt. But what cannot and should not be disputed is that Southgate has fundamentally reshaped England men’s football off the field.
It’s not just that when English footballers gather together they no longer carry their fierce club rivalries into the England camp (Liverpool players dining apart from the Manchester United contingent, say). It’s that by breaking down barriers no other England manager has ever done or even attempted, he has created an inclusive, caring team ethos. His successor, whoever he is, will not be able to ignore the changes he has made, let alone go back to a past where an England manager was sublimely incurious of anything outside the field of play.
