Gareth Southgate: Managerial Journey, Family, Net Worth, and Football Achievements

Former England Football Team manager Gareth Southgate has had a lot of ups and downs in his football career. Southgate played as a midfielder and defender. He began his playing career at Crystal Palace after signing for Aston Villa before departing for Middlesbrough. On the international level, Gareth Southgate has amassed 57 appearances. Overall after a great playing career, Southgate retired in 2006 at the age of 35. After retiring as a player in 2006, Southgate did not leave football but rather became a manager at Middlesbrough in the same year. His last stint as a manager was for the England Football Team in 2024.

Gareth Southgate Bio

Full Name	Gareth Southgate
Gender	Male
Date Of Birth	September 3, 1970
Age	54
Nationality	English
Place Of Birth	Watford, England
Height	1.83 m ( 6 ft 0 in )
Current Team(s)	N\A
Religion	N\A
Zodiac Sign	Virgo
Weight	80 kg
Relationship Status	Married
Wife	Alison Bird
Children	2

Gareth Southgate Career

Southgate made his debut for Crystal Palace in 1990 and was appointed club captain in 1993. Gareth won the First Division Championship in the 1993-1994 season with Crystal Palace and after amassing 150 appearances for them, he left to join Aston Villa, After this, Gareth Southgate spent 6 years at Aston Villa where he won the League Cup in 1996 and reached the FA Cup final in 2000. Gareth played as a defender at Aston Villa where he amassed 191 appearances

Southgate then joined Middlesbrough which was the final club of his career. Back then, Steve Mclaren who was Middlesbrough’s manager signed Gareth in 2001 whom he knew personally as well. In 2002, Paul Ince left for Wolverhampton Wanderers which led to Gareth becoming Middlesbrough’s manager. Gareth Southgate captained Middlesbrough to a trophy as they beat Bolton in the League Cup final on 29th February 2004. Southgate was also a crucial part of the squad as they played the 2006 UEFA Cup final against Sevilla which they ultimately lost 4-0. Southgate spent the rest of his playing career at Middlesbrough where he ultimately retired in 2006.

Club(s)	Period	Appearances	Goals	Assists
Crystal Palace	1990-1995	117	6	5
Aston Villa	1995-2001	235	9	2
Middlesbrough	2001-2006	204	4	4

Gareth Southgate International Career

Southgate has had quite a career with the England national team. Although he did not win any trophies with England, he did earn an astounding 57 caps for them and scored twice. Gareth made his debut for England against Portugal in 1995 as a substitute. Gareth quickly became a regular and played every minute of all the matches in the UEFA Euros 1996 where England reached the Semi-finals and lost to Germany on penalties. Southgate also played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euros 2000. Gareth Southgate also holds the record of Aston Villa’s most capped player for England, earning 42 of his 57 caps whilst at Aston Villa.

Also Read: Ruben Amorim Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family, Lifestyle and Career Stats

Gareth Southgate Coaching Career

The England National Team has always been stacked and one of the best if not the best on paper. Yet, they have only won one World Cup and have not won the Euros in their history. The era when Southgate took over England’s team as manager was the best part of his managerial career. However, let’s take a look at how and when Gareth Southgate started as a manager.

Immediately after retiring as a player at Middlesbrough, Gareth Southgate succeeded Steve Mclaren as manager in the 2006-2007 season. Southgate did not have the necessary coaching qualifications to manage a top-flight club like Middlesbrough which meant initially he could only coach them for 12 weeks. However, the Premier League board allowed a special dispensation for Gareth which allowed him to coach Middlesbrough. After acquiring his license and being appointed as the manager officially, Southgate had a decent run at Middlesbrough until the 2007-2008 season which was his best season. In the 2007-2008 season. Middlesbrough ended up finishing 13th in the Premier League table and to make things even better, they beat Manchester City 8-1 at home in the last game of the season. Unfortunately, in the very next season in 2008-200, Middlesbrough were relegated to the Championship and Southgate swore to get them back to the Premier League no matter how. In yet another unfortunate event, the club board sacked Southgate after a win against Derby County on 20th October 2009. This was very controversial and unexpected considering that Middlesbrough were just one point from the top after that win.

Gareth Southgate was not involved in football for 4 years after being sacked at Middlesbrough. He then replaced Stuart Pearce as the manager of England’s U-21 national team. After spending three years from 2013 to 2016 as the U-21 manager, Southgate expressed that he did not want to become the manager of the senior team. On 27th September 27th, Sam Allardyce resigned as the manager of the senior team which led to Southgate’s temporary appointment. The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification stages were going on at that time and there were only four games left. England under Southgate’s leadership picked up 2 wins and 2 draws which ultimately led to Southgate signing the contract to become the official permanent manager of England’s men football team. Gareth Southgate received quite some hate during his managerial tenure at England however he has definitely pushed the team into a place where it should be. Under Southgate, at the big tournaments, England reached the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup where they lost to Croatia, and the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup where they lost to France. Gareth led the team to back-to-back finals in the 2020 and 2024 UEFA Euros as well.

Unfortunately, England lost both finals against Italy and Spain respectively. Both Italy and Spain won the finals in 2020 and 2024 respectively late in the match which was an even bigger blow for England. Spain celebrated in grand style after winning the Euros 2024 final against England and this loss only meant one thing for Gareth Southgate. The 2024 UEFA Euros was ultimately his demise because despite reaching the finals, England put in mediocre performances throughout the tournament. Despite having fairly easy opponents, England could not get a dominant resounding win and were often saved by individual performances from some players. The loss in the final sealed Gareth’s fate as England’s manager. Gareth’s run as England’s manager where he led them to a semi-final and quarter-final at the FIFA World Cup and two back-to-back UEFA Euros final is quite commendable.

Gareth Southgate Tactics and Style of Play

Southgate transformed England’s team into what they should have been, in 2016 they used to struggle a lot but Southgate’s principles and leadership made them into a contending and resilient team. Gareth has also promoted many youth players into the senior team during his tenure which further fostered an even more positive culture within the team.

Gareth Southgate has often been criticised for his conservative and not very attacking-minded style of management. He has often made incorrect decisions like choosing out-of-form players in the starting XI. Gareth often changed the formation depending on the opponent. He mainly employed a 4-3-3, 3-4-3, and 3-5-2 formation.

Gareth Southgate Achievements and Trophies

Southgate has won quite some trophies as a player but is yet to win one as a manager. The two times he came close to winning one was with England at the UEFA Euros 2020 and UEFA Euros 2024 where they lost both the finals.

Gareth Southgate Family

Gareth was born to Clive and Barbara Southgate on 3rd September 1970. Gareth’s parents were very supportive of his aspirations. At first, he aspired to become a journalist and then went on to become a footballer. Gareth married Alison Bird in 1997 with whom he has two children.

Also Read: Who is Arne Slot? How his tactics helped Liverpool stay competitive from day one?

Gareth Southgate Net Worth And Salary

Southgate has an estimated net worth of somewhere between £9 million to £15 million as of 2024. Gareth’s wealth is a result of his long and successful playing as well as managerial career which led to him gaining this much money. During his most recent tenure in 2024 as England manager, Gareth Southgate was earning almost £100,000 per week which made him the highest football paid manager at the UEFA Euros 2024.