Gareth Southgate

About

Gareth is a BBC pundit and former international footballer playing for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and both the 1996 and 2000 European Championships. He garnered huge respect from players and critics alike as a calm defender who played football by the book. 

Gareth Southgate was born in Crawley, West Sussex, and began his career at Crystal Palace. He became captain and led the club to the 1994 Division One title. After the South London club’s relegation from the Premier League, he moved to Aston Villa for a fee of £2.5 million. In his first season with Villa, he lifted the League Cup and Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup. Southgate played in every Premier League game during the 1998–99 season.

He went on to play for Middlesbrough and won the Player of the Year award in his first season after a series of solid defensive displays and not a single booking.

Southgate made 57 appearances for the England national team, featuring in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and both the 1996 and 2000 European Championships.

In June 2006 he was handed his first managerial role at Middlesbrough after Steve McClaren had left to manage England.

Southgate is also an accomplished writer. During the 2003–04 season he penned, with close friend Andy Woodman, the book Woody & Nord: A Football Friendship. The book won the Sporting Book of the Year Award for 2004 from the National Sporting Club. Also, in 2005 Southgate became a published poet, with a contribution to the collection Roary & Friends.

In 2010, after he finished his tenure as Middlesbrough manager, he became a respected pundit, commentating on FA Cup and UEFA Champions League matches for ITV, as well as, acting as a pundit on England games.

In January 2011, Southgate was confirmed as the FA’s head of elite development, working alongside Sir Trevor Brooking.

One of the most respected figures in football and punditry, Gareth Southgate is in demand as an event host or after dinner speaker for his football anecdotes and memories.