FA chief confirms England plans after Gareth Southgate casts doubt on future

12 June 2024 , 21:30

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The FA are preparing for life after Gareth Southgate (Image: Domenic Aquilina/The FA)

FA chiefs have drawn up a succession plan for life after Gareth Southgate.

But Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham insists they have had no approaches for Southgate, whose £2.5m-a-year contract expires in December.‌

Southgate has said publicly he could quit unless England win the Euros this summer and the FA clearly want him to stay after lifting the trophy. But Bullingham admitted they have had to put plans in place in case Southgate stands down even though he insisted they have not spoken to any potential candidates and would not rule out appointing a foreign manager.

Bullingham said: “I think the world of Gareth, I think he has done a phenomenal job, I think he has transformed the fortunes of our men’s senior team, and that’s not just off the pitch, which a lot of people talk about, and you can see the culture but also the performances on the pitch.

“I have said before that any organisation really has a succession plan in place for their top employees, and we are no different to that. This succession plan normally includes everything from what you do for short-term cover, through to a process you follow to candidates. We have that for top employees. That’s the same that we have.”

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‌Manchester United had Southgate on a shortlist before deciding to stick with Erik Ten Hag and, after eight years in charge, he could be ready for a new challenge. But Bullingham says there has been “no contact” and with Sarina Weigman in charge of the Lionesses, he did not rule out appointing a foreign boss. But the FA chief also refused to set any targets despite Southgate himself saying it could be “win or bust.”

Bullingham said: “We have two senior coaches. One of them is English, one of them is not. Any federation in the world would always want to have a pool of top homegrown talent playing and managing at any time.

“I know why people would love for there to always be a really arbitrary level but I don't think you can set one for any tournament with any manager that you judge because you could go further but be playing poorly or have a really unlucky result where you get a couple of red cards.

“I think we will step back and look at everything after the tournament. We are very focused on the tournament, and we want to be supporting them with that focus.”

John Cross