Gareth Southgate has revealed he will refuse to watch a new star-studded play about the England team.
Hollywood star Joseph Fiennes has been cast to play Southgate in the play Dear England which is about how the country felt in love with the national team again.
But it was clear that Southgate felt a little embarrassed about being part of a stage production at the world famous National Theatre in London and his reign as England boss being put on stage.
When asked about Fiennes playing him, Southgate said: "That's generous casting! I don't know what to make of it really. The play I think is about the team. No, I won't be going to watch it. It wouldn't feel right.”
Scriptwriter James Graham, who wrote hit TV show Sherwood, has written Dear England, about the shift in the national team’s culture under Southgate. England fans fell back in love with the team after Southgate took the team to the World Cup semi finals in 2018, reached the Euros final in 2021 and yet that love affair has been tested.
Southgate admitted he nearly quit after being booed in England’s disastrous Nations League campaign last year but then decided to stay on after the World Cup to take the team to the Euros in 2024.
But after a bumpy few months, Southgate admitted that he is happy that the mood has changed back to positivity after back-to-back wins over Italy and Ukraine in their Euros qualifiers. Southgate said: “I think it was important that we showed our hunger again immediately after the World Cup.
“It would have been easy to have a hangover from that, and it would have been possible not to get the level of performance we've had given the time and stage of the season, with lots of players carrying niggles and lots of players in the middle of an intense period of games.
“But they came here with a freshness and want to be a part of it. And that means we are able to keep challenging them. They keep responding to those challenges and I was really pleased we gave the 90 minute performance we didn't give in Italy. I think with or without the ball, I know when I look back there will be very little that's out of place.
“The resilience shown in Italy when we battled with ten men, I think the public will respond to that without a doubt. And so they should.
“This group of players are proud to represent them and I think that comes through in the performances that they deliver. Now we've got to make sure we get June right, but we've given ourselves a great start to the group and we need to go and capitalise on that.”
