England manager Gareth Southgate made a surprise appearance at a Leeds school and took part in a mock press conference with some of the pupils.
Gareth Southgate visited Lawnswood School as part of Channel 4's 4Schools initiative to encourage young people to consider working in broadcasting. As part of the surprise visit, 30 year 10 and 11 pupils took part in a mock press conference and questioned the England manager.
He talked about his goals with the England squad and said he had only one objective: "Right now I have one goal - to become European Champions."
Read More: 'Ridiculous' says dad of young Leeds United fan 'snubbed by players' after club apology
Gareth Southgate also offered them some advice on dealing with pressure and their GCSEs. He said: "Pretty much everything you’re going to do in life, you’re going to do with other people, playing sport teaches you about working together and to be successful in life, it’s very hard to do it on your own, you need other people with you.
"Sometimes there might be people who irritate you and you have to find a way to get on with people, even though you might not be best friends with people, finding a way to work with them is really important."
When it came to advise about the student's upcoming GCSEs, he said: "I’ve been through it so I know how you feel and I would say all you can do is to prepare as well as you can, the more preparation you do the better chance you have to succeed."
He also spoke about the upcoming Euros in Germany in 2024 and talked about England's next qualifying matches with Malta and North Macedonia. Southgate said: "These games are a really interesting challenge for us because Malta will have a world ranking which is really low and England have beaten Malta every time we’ve played them. The most important thing is our mentality for the game because if both teams play at their normal level, England should win but complacency can really hurt you as a team."
When it comes to North Macedonia, England have only played them four times, winning two away by one goal and drawing two at home. He said: "Remarkably England have never beaten North Macedonia at home. North Macedonia also knocked Italy out of the last World Cup so there is no room for complacency, we have to make sure our mentality is right and we play at our highest level."
Lawnswood School Headteacher Jo Bell said: “"his has been just fantastic and so generous of Gareth to give up his time. It’s been an amazing opportunity for our students, they will have learned so much from this and the day will have provided some brilliant inspiration for their futures."
The students also got the chance to speak with Channel 4's Head of Sport, Pete Andrews, who talked about the behind-the-scenes work on broadcasting a live sporting event. He said: "It’s so important to open young people’s eyes to the opportunities available in broadcasting which is why the work of 4Schools is so important.
"Enabling the Lawnswood School students to hold a press conference and quiz the England manager was amazing and we are so grateful to the FA and to Gareth for making it happen."
Many of the pupils were surprised by Gareth Southgate's visit. Emil, 14, said: "Normally I’d have been in French or English but instead I was with Gareth Southgate! I thought it was crazy when he walked through the door, I thought it might be a player from a lower division, or maybe even a Leeds player, not the England manager! He was really interesting and a lot of what he talked about applied to what we do in school. It was so cool."
Another student, Matthew, 16, who dreams of becoming a sport commentator, said: "When Gareth Southgate walked in I couldn’t believe it, I would never have expected him to even be at our school. He is so down to earth, such a nice person."
Read Next:
