There were a few eyebrows raised when Gareth Southgate was confirmed as the FA’s new head of elite development at the end of January 2011. He had only just turned 40 and was working as a pundit for ITV, having been sacked as Middlesbrough manager 15 months earlier.
Yet even though Southgate insisted at the time that becoming England manager was not on his agenda, the significance of that moment in the history of English football is now undeniable. Initially appointed to work alongside Sir Trevor Brooking and tasked with “the key objective of bringing through better players and coaches to aid the national team” in response to the 4-1 thrashing by Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the former Crystal Palace and Aston Villa defender has been the chief architect of England’s renaissance since then.
