Gareth Southgate has issued an impassioned plea for English football supporters to behave themselves as he outlined a fear that the game could be heading back to the dark days.
The England manager announced his squad for the Nations League programme in the first half of June, with the headline items being the debut call-ups for James Justin and Jarrod Bowen, the recall of Fikayo Tomori, the omission of Tyrone Mings and the resting of Jordan Henderson.
England face Hungary and Germany away from home before taking on Italy and Hungary at Molineux. The Hungary tie in Budapest will be played behind closed doors because of the bad behaviour of that country’s supporters during Euro 2020 and so will the Italy game – a punishment for the disgraceful scenes that marred England’s loss to the same opponents in the Euro final at Wembley.
Southgate described having to play a home match without fans as an “embarrassment” and he pulled no punches when he considered the recent spate of pitch invasions in England, which have seen players and managers goaded and assaulted.
The Football Association has just under 3,500 tickets for the Germany tie in Munich on 7 June – the first away game that fans will travel to en masse since the Czech Republic match in October 2019. With the potential for flashpoints clear, Southgate was asked whether he had a message for those who will attend.
“I doubt they’d listen to it, really,” Southgate said. “Because we’re always giving those messages but frankly if people are going to cause trouble, it’s not going to make a jot of difference what I say. I just think we’re representing the country … so is everybody that travels and we should be good ambassadors for our country and leave a good impression.
Pickford (Everton), Pope (Burnley), Ramsdale (Arsenal); Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Coady (Wolves), Guéhi (Crystal Palace), James (Chelsea), Justin (Leicester), Maguire (Manchester United), Stones (Manchester City), Tomori (Milan), Trippier (Newcastle), Walker (Manchester City), White (Arsenal); Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Gallagher (Crystal Palace, on loan from Chelsea), Mount (Chelsea), Phillips (Leeds), Rice (West Ham), Ward-Prowse (Southampton); Abraham (Roma), Bowen (West Ham), Foden (Manchester City), Grealish (Manchester City), Kane (Tottenham), Saka (Arsenal), Sterling (Manchester City).
“Why are we filming ourselves abusing other people or taunting other people or looking for a reaction? Why do people dump their rubbish when they drive out of a service station? The only way we can affect it is by the small things being picked upon … those small things make the difference – that has been proved over the years in different environments.
“It is unrealistic to expect people to form into a big group and take that challenge on but if smaller numbers of people and individuals start having those conversations and questioning why people are doing certain things, it is something that it is possible for all of us to have an impact on.”
The FA’s punishment after the Euro 2020 final also carried the threat of a second game behind closed doors if there was further trouble involving England supporters. “We’re on a yellow card, aren’t we?” Southgate said. “We’ve got the embarrassment now of playing behind closed doors at home. Normally when you watch those things abroad, we’re all grandstanding about how it’s someone else’s problem and how that country should be dealt with. Now it’s us. That’s not a good optic on our country.
“When I am on holiday … you are embarrassed if people who are English behave badly because that then creates a difficult environment for the next English people who travel there. We are all tarnished. People who are watching the [Euro] final here, that is their view of our society. That then affects all of us, eventually.
“We don’t want to go back to fences up [at stadiums] and the type of environment that created. At various times in my lifetime, football has become a vehicle for people who want a fight and want to do whatever. We don’t want to head back there. The last 25 years have had brilliant atmospheres in grounds, the game’s brilliant, the families back in, women back in, feeling more comfortable. But we are in a difficult moment as a country.”
Southgate said that, as ever, wider societal issues were contributing to the rise in problems at stadiums. He mentioned economic hardship, which was “maybe playing a part”. Southgate added: “We have been in a pandemic with huge restrictions for a long time. Alcohol and drugs are a part of the equation [as well] but we seem to be accepting certain behaviours that aren’t acceptable and it means everybody is a part of that.
“We still want to host events [in England]. We’ve got a women’s Euros here this summer and what we lived through last summer at the Euros was an amazing experience for the team. So we’re talking about something that could cost us the chance of doing those sorts of things because people will look [at us] from the outside.”
