Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has revealed the must-do pre-match ritual for his players ahead of the summer's European Championships: haircuts.
Pre-match rituals can be as benignly straightforward as beans on toast and as compulsive as a specific pair of hole-cut socks, and the England national team are certainly not immune from the urge to find comfort in a routine.
Southgate's England are preparing for the summer's Euros and their mission to secure a first piece of silverware since 1966.
And the likelihood is that there will be plenty of hair grooming before England's first group stage game against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 3 June.
“The lads are quite obsessive about getting their hair cut the night before a game,” Southgate told GQ, though the 53-year-old refrains from naming any specifics.
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Even so, it's not difficult to glean who might be the players paying hyper-attention to the locks before kick-off. Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Jack Grealish and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham are known to share a barber who accompanies them on their travels. They are hardly alone in their zest. Brazilian icon Neymar flew his personal barber 6,500km to Qatar during the World Cup for a pre-match trim. Former Manchester United and Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster revealed England midfielder James Maddison, named in Southgate's 33-man provisional squad, did the same.
Whatever the potential outward projection of lavishness, grooming is where Southgate believes his managerial purview ends.
“If I’m going to start interfering in that sort of thing, then we’re in trouble," he said.
On his own haircut status, he added: “I’ll have one more cut before we go, I think, because my hair gets a little bit curly, which I don’t like. Plus my wife says I haven’t got the features to have it really short.”
Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden are two of England's brightest talents and share a barber when travelling (Eddie Keogh/The FA via Getty Images)England arrive in Germany as heavy favourites to reach the final, and Southgate is facing fierce pressure to live up to the expectations. Since taking the helm in November 2016, England have reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and quarter-finals in 2022, while reaching the final in Euro 2020 but losing to Italy in a penalty shoot-out at Wembley Stadium.
Avenging the Euro 2020 heartbreak will be crucial if Southgate is to continue in the role past the summer amid criticism of squad selection and negative playing style.
Despite the increasing pressure, Southgate has insisted his focus rests on the summer's tournament and not what lay beyond.
“When I was 23 as a player, I would’ve been anxious about that," he said. "When I was 37 as a young manager, I’d have been anxious about that. But I’m 53 now and am totally relaxed about it, because life will go on whatever happens.
"I also don't think it would be right to make a decision before a tournament. I remember Fabio [Capello] signing a new contract before [World Cup 2010] and everybody said, 'What the bloody hell are they doing? He should be proving himself in the tournament.' If I was two years into the job, then perhaps I would feel differently. But we’re eight years in, and for me, all of my focus is on one thing: how do I get this team to win?"
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