Southgate signs contract extension with The FA

Thursday 15 Jan 2015
Southgate has signed a contract extension with The FA until 2017
England Under-21s Head Coach Gareth Southgate has agreed a year-long contract extension with The FA, which will keep him in post until the summer of 2017.

Southgate, who is also Head of National Teams at St. George’s Park, successfully qualified the Young Lions for this summer’s UEFA 2015 European Championship in Czech Republic.

Gareth Southgate celebrates with goalkeeping coach Martin Thomas

Southgate and his staff led England Under-21s to the Euro Finals

The former England and Middlesbrough central defender has also been integral in developing The FA’s philosophy for teams – England DNA – and prior to that conducted the Youth Development Review that has helped shape The FA's modern outlook for grassroots football.

Southgate said: "I am enjoying my work at The FA and, with St. George’s Park coming to life with innovation and development across our football disciplines, I believe we now have some solid foundations in place.

"England DNA is evolving but anyone who has seen our development teams play – including the Under-21s – will know that many of the principles can already be seen in the way we go about our work. 

"Whilst I am certainly happy with the direction we are heading and the progress made so far, we have enormous work ahead of us to raise the level to where we would like to be. It is a big challenge, but an exciting one."

“I believe we now have some solid foundations in place.”

Gareth Southgate 

Dan Ashworth, Technical Director, added: "Gareth is an outstanding individual to work alongside and I am happy to see him commit further to his work with the Under-21s and to football development at The FA.

“We are looking forward to the European Championship this summer, and testing our young players against Europe’s elite. 

"With Gareth in place we will hope to qualify for the 2017 European Championship to continue our players’ education and development. 

"Gareth's close working relationship with Roy Hodgson is certainly helping the transition of our players through to the senior team."

Gareth Southgate's England Under-21s team prepare for their European Finals adventure in March with a home game against Germany at Middlesbrough on Monday 30 March. To get tickets for the game click here.

By FA Staff