Gareth Southgate is a former footballer and current coach who currently leads the England team. This year he turned 47 years old, so his coaching career is in full swing. Gareth Southgate, being a football player, played in the position of central defender.
Club career of a football player
Gareth Southgate was born on September 3, 1970 in the city of Watford in England. He began to get involved in football from an early age, joining the Crystal Palace Club Academy, where he stayed until 1988, when he was offered a professional contract. Naturally, he agreed, and made his debut in the main team the next year. There he spent quite a lot of time, as much as six years. He played 152 matches and scored 15 goals in the club’s shirt, until he became interested in a larger club, namely Aston Villa, which was on the rise in those days. As a result, in 1995, the 25-year-old Gareth Southgate changed his club residence permit.
Together with Aston Villa, he spent another six years, entering the field 192 times and scoring seven goals in these matches. Of course, the goal indicator is not the most important for the central defender, and Gareth coped with his role perfectly. It was only in 2001 that he left the club, joining Middlesbrough to complete his professional career there. He spent five years at the club, playing another 160 matches and scoring four goals. In 2006, he was already 35 years old, which is quite a lot for a fielder, so Southgate decided to end his career in that capacity.
Team appearances
Gareth Southgate is a football player who has performed not only at the club level. He made his debut in the England team quite late, only in 1995, when he was already 25 years old. And already in 1996, he went to the European Championship as the main defender. At the 1998 World Cup, he was also the main defender, but he went to the European Championship already as a reserve player. The 2002 World Cup was the last major tournament for Gareth, but even there he did not play a single minute. In total for the national team, he played 58 matches, scoring two goals.
Career coach
After completing his professional career as a football player, Southgate did not leave the sport. In 2006, he headed the club in which he had previously played, Middlesbrough , where he spent three whole years. After that, he had a short break, and in 2011 Gareth became the youth coordinator for the England team. In 2013, he was appointed as a coach of the England youth team under the age of 21, and in 2016 he received the position of temporary coach of the main team, where he held four successful matches, after which he received a full-fledged contract. To date, he has already played 9 matches as a full-time England coach.