Gareth Southgate, born on September 3, 1970 in Watford, Hertfordshire, is a former English football player. Gareth Southgate stepped into the international arena for the first time representing England national football team. He made his international debut as a substitute in a match against Portugal in December 1995. He earned a place in the English squad that played at the Euro 1996 and was instrumental in the English march to the semi-finals of the championship. For his excellent performance, Gareth Southgate was included in the team, which participated in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He led the team in the second half of the penultimate warm-up game ahead of the 2002 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup finals against South Korea which was a 1-1 draw. In September 2002, he played his 50th international game against Portugal at Villa Park. Gareth Southgate has won 57 caps in his international career with 2 goals to his credit. He scored his first international goal on October 14, 1998 against Luxembourg in the Euro 2000 Qualification match, which England won 3-0. On May 22, 2003, in a 2-1 victory over South Africa in a friendly match, Gareth Southgate scored the second goal of his international career.
Gareth Southgate began his football career in 1988 at Crystal Palace, a south Norwood football club and played in the central midfield position for his team. He was chosen as the skipper of the team and led it to the 1994 Division One title. After making 151 appearances in more than 4 seasons for Crystal Palace, Gareth Southgate moved to Anston Villa in 1995 for a fee of £2.5 million pounds and played in the center-back position offering a solid defense. His remarkable performance during his first season with the Anston Villa helped the club to win the League Cup in 1996 and qualify for the United European Football Association (UEFA) Cup. He was a part of the team in all the Premier League games held in the 1998-99 season. During the 1999-2000 season, he led the team as Anston Villa reached the finals of the Football Association (FA) Cup. In 2001, Gareth Southgate was the first person to be signed by Steve McClaren, the manager of the Middlesbrough football club. He was awarded the ‘Player of the Year’ award in the first season at the club for his consistent performance. In 2002-03, he became the captain of the club and lifted the Carling Cup in February 2004, the first major trophy for Middlesbrough. Gareth Southgate played in the final of UEFA Cup 2005-06 against Sevilla on May 10, 2006 before retiring from his playing career.
In June 2006, Gareth Southgate succeeded Steve McClaren as the manager of Middlesbrough and helped the club finish 12th in the Premier League of that season. Under him, the club went on to achieve an 8-1 victory over Manchester City in May 2008.
During the 2003-04 season, Gareth Southgate co-authored a book named “Woody & Nord: A Football Friendship”, with Andy Woodman, a close friend and West Ham’s former goalkeeping coach. The National Sporting Club honored this book with the ‘Sporting Book of the Year Award’ 2004. In 2005, Gareth Southgate contributed poems to the collection “Roary & Friends”. He also took up the assignment as commentator for ITV at the World Cup 2006 alongside Clive Tyldesley shortly before his appointment as the Middlesbrough manager.
