GARETH SOUTHGATE brought the curtain down on his eight-year stint as England manager by announcing his departure on Tuesday morning.
The Three Lions legend, 53, took over back in 2016 following the Sam Allardyce debacle and has become the country’s second most successful men’s manager in history.
Successive European Championship finals, along with a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final, have sent England fans on a thrilling journey.
While a trophy ultimately alluded Southgate, he leaves with an impressive body of work.
His transformation of the England team can be seen by looking at the line-up he fielded for his first game against Malta.
A 2-0 victory at Wembley on October 8, 2016 marked the first of 102 matches at the helm.
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Coming off the back of a humiliating Euro 2016 defeat to Iceland, Southgate’s development of the England team has been a sensational one.
Two of the players who started against Malta also lined up for Southgate’s final game in charge as they lost 2-1 to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
But six of them have retired and one is now playing in South Korea.
SunSport has taken a look at each player in Southgate’s first XI and where they are now.
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Joe Hart
Joe Hart swiftly made way for Jordan Pickford under Southgate, before he was also moved on by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
After a number of years in relative obscurity, he signed for Celtic and won back-to-back league titles before retiring at the end of last season and beginning what could be a new career in punditry.
Southgate’s England record
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate’s record as England manager.
Overall record
- Games: 102
- Wins: 61
- Draws: 24
- Losses: 17
- Goals scored: 213
- Goals conceded: 72
Kyle Walker
Right-back Kyle Walker has been ever-present under Southgate, earning his 90th cap in the Euro 2024 final against Spain.
He started the 2016 win over Malta and remained the England manager’s first-choice right-back/right centre-back up until the end.
At club level, he joined Man City in 2017 and has gone on to play more than 300 times, winning every trophy possible at the Etihad.
John Stones
Another stalwart of the Southgate era, John Stones began England’s new era at the heart of their defence and ended it there.
He was a key part of Southgate’s first tournament, scoring twice against Panama at the 2018 World Cup.
Since then he has barely missed a match for his country, while also remaining a key part of Guardiola’s Man City side.
Gary Cahill
Some may be surprised to learn Gary Cahill racked up 61 caps for England – the last of which came in 2018.
He played one tournament game under Southgate – a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup – and retired from international football later that year.
He left Chelsea in 2019 having played 290 games and hung up his boots in 2022 after stints at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
Ryan Bertrand
Ex-Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand played 19 times for England during a post-Ashley Cole period where the country had few options.
He started against Malta but his final international cap came the following year.
Spells at Southampton and Leicester ended in 2023 as he was released as a free agent.
He has since confirmed his retirement.
Jordan Henderson
Jordan Henderson spent seven years in Southgate’s squads having made his England debut back in 2010.
He amassed more than 50 caps under Southgate and went to all of the major tournaments under him until this summer.
An ill-advised move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq threatened to see him ousted from the England squad.
He attempted to salvage his England career by signing for Ajax, but Southgate still left him out of his final 26-man roster for Euro 2024.
Dele Alli
Dele Alli scored the second goal against Malta in Southgate’s first game in charge.
But he would score just once more in three years as an England player – which came in the quarter-final of the 2018 World Cup.
His final Three Lions cap was in 2019 and he has endured a difficult run of form since then.
He left Tottenham for Everton in 2022 but has been unable to re-capture the level he had years ago.
During his slump in form he has also bravely opened up about battling tragic off-field issues including being sexually abused as a child.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney was England’s captain for Southgate’s first game in charge.
But he made just two more appearances before effectively ending his international career – aside from a farewell cap in 2018 which brought his total to 120.
Rooney’s final Premier League season came at Everton in the 2017/18 campaign, before spells at DC United and Derby led to his retirement in 2021.
He has since gone into management, taking charge of Derby, DC United and Birmingham.
Rooney is now at the helm of Championship side Plymouth and will manage his first competitive game when they go to Sheffield Wednesday on August 11.
Theo Walcott
Former Arsenal man Theo Walcott was still in the England picture when Southgate took over.
But his final international cap came just one month after England’s win over Malta.
He left Arsenal the following season, but continued his career for a further six years at Everton and Southampton before retiring at the end of last season. Was still at the Euros though – working as a pundit for the BBC.
Daniel Sturridge
Daniel Sturridge scored the first goal of the Southgate era against Malta.
But the ex-Chelsea and Liverpool man was capped just three more times by Southgate as injuries plagued his career.
After his international career tailed off, he spent two more years at Anfield before signing for Turkish side Trabzonspor.
A one-year stint in Australia with Perth Glory ended in 2022 and he subsequently retired, taking up a punditry role on Sky Sports.
Jesse Lingard
Jesse Lingard became a fan-favourite under Southgate, playing a key role for England at the 2018 World Cup.
But the last of his Three Lions caps came in 2021, before he failed to make Southgate’s final squad for the Euros later that year.
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At club level he has struggled since then – aside from a fruitful loan spell with West Ham.
He left Man Utd for Nottingham Forest in 2022, but is now playing for South Korean side FC Seoul.
Southgate’s highs and lows as England boss
GARETH Southgate took charge of 102 games for England before quitting in the aftermath of the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
But what were the best – and worst matches – from the popular gaffer’s eight-year reign before that devastating Sunday night in Berlin? Here we take a look.
THE HIGHS:
Colombia 1-1 England (3-4 on pens,) 2018 World Cup
This was the night that long-suffering supporters finally started to believe that it was coming home.
Despite conceding a late equaliser, England held their nerve to advance to the quarter final of the World Cup 2018 on penalties.
It was our first shootout victory for 22 years.
Spain 2-3 England, 2018 Nations League
Following on from the World Cup, England won in Spain for the first time in 31 years with a brilliant Uefa Nations League victory.
Southgate’s boys stunned the Seville crowd into silence with a thrilling performance that saw them lead 3-0 at the break thanks to a Raheem Sterling brace and Marcus Rashford.
Although the hosts scored two after the break, the way the Three Lions tore La Roja apart excited every fan.
England 2-1 Denmark, Euro 2020 semi-final
Southgate led England to their first major final in 55 years as they beat Denmark after extra-time in the Euro 2020 semi-final.
Having fallen behind after half an hour, the Three Lions battled back to send it to extra-time courtesy of an own goal.
Then it was captain Kane who converted a rebound after Kasper Schmeichel originally saved his penalty in extra-time to win it.
England 3-0 Sengal, 2022 World Cup last 16
England had already blown Iran and Wales, 6-2 and 3-0 respectively, away in the World Cup 2022 group stages before they breezed past Senegal.
The free-scoring Three Lions recorded another big win to set-up a mouthwatering quarter-final against France – what could go wrong?
Italy 1-2 England, Euro qualifiers, 2023
On a night when Harry Kane became England’s all-time top scorer, the Three Lions recorded a first away win over Italy since 1961.
It was the first game since their 2022 World Cup exit, and it ensured a perfect start to their Euro 2022 qualifying campaign.
England 2-1 Holland, Euro 2024 sem-final
The nation doubted Southgate’s men in the semis of Euro 2024, but they responded with a barnstorming display.
Xavi Simons opened the scoring for the Dutch but Harry Kane’s penalty drew us level.
And Ollie Watkins slotted in a brilliant winner in injury time to see the Three Lions into their second successive Euros final.
AND THE LOWS….
Croatia 2-1 England, World Cup semi-final, 2018
Having led England to a first World Cup semi-final since 1990, Southgate men made a dream start as Kieran Trippier put them ahead in the early exchanges.
But Ivan Perisic equalised as the Croats began to take control.
Some of Southgate’s substitutions were then questioned after his team were beaten in extra-time, although many gave him the benefit of the doubt as he returned a hero.
Italy 1-1 England (3-2 pens) Euro 2020 final
Will probably never get a better chance to have secured a trophy for the Three Lions than this final of the last European Championship.
Luke Shaw gave us the lead after just seconds, but just like against Croatia three years earlier, we sat back and let our rivals back into it.
Leonardo Bonucci duly equalised in the second half and the game eventually went to penalties.
The unfortunate Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all brought on to take a spot-kick, but the brave trio all missed as the Azzurri broke our hearts to take the prize.
England 0-4 Hungary, Nations League 2023
A year on from the Euros and it was utter embarrassment for Southgate in this Nations League game at Molineux.
It was our biggest home defeat since 1928 and the result led to England being relegated from the top group of the Nations League and back to one that contained the Republic of Ireland, Finland and Greece.
England 1-2 France, World Cup 2022 quarter-finals
Another case of what could have been.
Having been free-scoring throughout Qatar 2022, many fancied us to go all the way at the World Cup despite taking on the holders in the quarters.
We fought back from going behind to level through Kane and many believe that France were then there for the taking had Southgate deployed a more attacking approach.
Instead, they seemed content with what they had until Olivier Giroud pounced 12 minutes from time to win it.
But there was still one more twist of the knife for England as the usually-reliable Kane skied a late penalty over the bar uncharacteristically as we crashed out.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
