Category Sports News

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate says he is “worried about unity” amid a debate about flying the St George’s flag.

A growing number of St George’s and union jack flags have appeared across England in recent months.

While some people feel the flag-raising is patriotic, others feel it is intimidating.

Southgate, who spent eight years in charge of the Three Lions, stepped down as manager following a Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain.

Though he failed to win silverware with England, he is widely recognised for uniting the country in support of the national side and has now written a book called Dear England: Lessons in Leadership.

On Monday, BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay asked Southgate for his opinion on the flags debate, saying: “Some people are proud of them. Some people are questioning the use of them in certain circumstances. What do you think of that flags debate in the context of what you think about patriotism?”

Southgate replied: “I worry about unity. I’ve seen what we did with the team [England] to unify every community.

Former England defender and Salford City co-owner Gary Neville recently criticised the “negative” display of the St George’s flag and said he had ordered the removal of a flag from a building site that he invests in.

Salford City’s League Two fixture against Oldham Athletic was delayed later that week when two pitch invaders attempted to place a St George’s flag inside the centre circle at the Peninsula Stadium.

Far-right group Britain First claimed responsibility for the incident, saying they “teamed up with local Salford patriots” to protest against the “treachery of Gary Neville”.

“At any time in history there will always be some disunity under the surface,” said Southgate.

“Life is economically tough for a lot of people so I understand why people are disaffected.

Southgate, who was appointed England head coach in November 2016 after an interim spell, earned 57 caps for the Three Lions during his playing career.

The closest the defender came to silverware with the national side as a player was in 1996, when he missed a penalty in a semi-final shootout defeat by Germany at Wembley.

Asked about the importance of failing, Southgate said: “It’s one of the certainties of life that things are going to go wrong for you. What I learned from 1996 is that I failed to execute a skill under pressure and that I needed to be better prepared.

“When I went to bed that night I remember thinking: ‘I don’t know how I’ll ever get over this.’

“The whole country was on this carnival of football in 1996 and heading to the final, and I was responsible for us going out.

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate says he is “worried about unity” amid a debate about flying the St George’s flag.

A growing number of St George’s and union jack flags have appeared across England in recent months.

While some people feel the flag-raising is patriotic, others feel it is intimidating.

Southgate, who spent eight years in charge of the Three Lions, stepped down as manager following a Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain.

Though he failed to win silverware with England, he is widely recognised for uniting the country in support of the national side and has now written a book called Dear England: Lessons in Leadership.

On Monday, BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay asked Southgate for his opinion on the flags debate, saying: “Some people are proud of them. Some people are questioning the use of them in certain circumstances. What do you think of that flags debate in the context of what you think about patriotism?”

Southgate replied: “I worry about unity. I’ve seen what we did with the team [England] to unify every community.

Former England defender and Salford City co-owner Gary Neville recently criticised the “negative” display of the St George’s flag and said he had ordered the removal of a flag from a building site that he invests in.

Salford City’s League Two fixture against Oldham Athletic was delayed later that week when two pitch invaders attempted to place a St George’s flag inside the centre circle at the Peninsula Stadium.

Far-right group Britain First claimed responsibility for the incident, saying they “teamed up with local Salford patriots” to protest against the “treachery of Gary Neville”.

“At any time in history there will always be some disunity under the surface,” said Southgate.

“Life is economically tough for a lot of people so I understand why people are disaffected.

Southgate, who was appointed England head coach in November 2016 after an interim spell, earned 57 caps for the Three Lions during his playing career.

The closest the defender came to silverware with the national side as a player was in 1996, when he missed a penalty in a semi-final shootout defeat by Germany at Wembley.

Asked about the importance of failing, Southgate said: “It’s one of the certainties of life that things are going to go wrong for you. What I learned from 1996 is that I failed to execute a skill under pressure and that I needed to be better prepared.

“When I went to bed that night I remember thinking: ‘I don’t know how I’ll ever get over this.’

“The whole country was on this carnival of football in 1996 and heading to the final, and I was responsible for us going out.

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate says he is “worried about unity” amid a debate about flying the St George’s flag.

A growing number of St George’s and union jack flags have appeared across England in recent months.

While some people feel the flag-raising is patriotic, others feel it is intimidating.

Southgate, who spent eight years in charge of the Three Lions, stepped down as manager following a Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain.

Though he failed to win silverware with England, he is widely recognised for uniting the country in support of the national side and has now written a book called Dear England: Lessons in Leadership.

On Monday, BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay asked Southgate for his opinion on the flags debate, saying: “Some people are proud of them. Some people are questioning the use of them in certain circumstances. What do you think of that flags debate in the context of what you think about patriotism?”

Southgate replied: “I worry about unity. I’ve seen what we did with the team [England] to unify every community.

Former England defender and Salford City co-owner Gary Neville recently criticised the “negative” display of the St George’s flag and said he had ordered the removal of a flag from a building site that he invests in.

Salford City’s League Two fixture against Oldham Athletic was delayed later that week when two pitch invaders attempted to place a St George’s flag inside the centre circle at the Peninsula Stadium.

Far-right group Britain First claimed responsibility for the incident, saying they “teamed up with local Salford patriots” to protest against the “treachery of Gary Neville”.

“At any time in history there will always be some disunity under the surface,” said Southgate.

“Life is economically tough for a lot of people so I understand why people are disaffected.

Southgate, who was appointed England head coach in November 2016 after an interim spell, earned 57 caps for the Three Lions during his playing career.

The closest the defender came to silverware with the national side as a player was in 1996, when he missed a penalty in a semi-final shootout defeat by Germany at Wembley.

Asked about the importance of failing, Southgate said: “It’s one of the certainties of life that things are going to go wrong for you. What I learned from 1996 is that I failed to execute a skill under pressure and that I needed to be better prepared.

“When I went to bed that night I remember thinking: ‘I don’t know how I’ll ever get over this.’

“The whole country was on this carnival of football in 1996 and heading to the final, and I was responsible for us going out.

In a debate over the flying of the St. George’s flag, former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate declares he is “worried about unity.”

In recent months, England has seen a rise in the number of St. George’s and Union Jack flags.

Some people find the flag-raising patriotic, but others find it intimidating.

Following a Euro 2024 final defeat defeat by Spain, Southgate left the team and spent eight years in charge.

He is well known for uniting the nation in support of the national side, and he has just published a book called Dear England: Lessons in Leadership.

Jon Kay, a presenter for BBC Breakfast, questioned Southgate on Monday about how he felt about the flag debate, saying, “Some people are proud of them. Some people have questions about how useful they are in particular situations. What do you think of the “patriotism debate” regarding the flags?

Southgate responded, “I worry about unity.” I’ve seen how the team [England] worked together to bring every community together.

Later that week, two pitch invaders attempted to place a St George’s flag inside the Peninsula Stadium’s center circle, which was delayed until Salford City’s League Two game against Oldham Athletic.

The incident was blamed on Britain First, a far-right organization, for which they “teamed up with local Salford patriots” to protest Gary Neville’s “tidy behavior.”

There will always be some unrest beneath the surface, said Southgate.

I understand why some people are unhappy because “life is very difficult for many people economically.”

Southgate, who took over as England’s head coach in November 2016 after a brief spell, won 57 caps for the Three Lions.

The defender missed a penalty in the semi-final shootout defeat by Germany at Wembley in 1996, which was the closest the defender’s career to silverware with the national side.

When asked about the value of failing, Southgate responded, “One of the certainties of life is that things will always turn out the other way.” I learned from 1996 that I had to be better prepared and that I had to perform a skill under great pressure.

I remember saying, “I don’t know how I’ll ever get over this when I went to bed that night.”

“I was in charge of getting the team to the final because the entire nation was playing football at this carnival in 1996.”

One of the most eagerly awaited Ashes series ever will take place in Australia this winter.

Ben Stokes’ men will be hoping to regain the urn for the first time since 2015 when England last won it in 2010-11.

The series ends in Sydney after the first Test, which will take place in Perth. The schedule is as follows:

With online analysis, in-play and post-play video highlights, live text updates, and online analysis, we will make sure you don’t miss any of the action.

The commentary team will be led by Simon Mann and Jim Maxwell, the country’s top cricket commentator.

The punditry team will include former England spinners Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley, as well as legendary Australian seamer Glenn McGrath and Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan from 2005.

Following the end of play each day, there will be in-play video clips of every significant event on the BBC Sport website and app as well as highlights (only available to UK users).

We’ve got you covered if you want to watch more action. Daily highlights of the action will be broadcast on iPlayer starting at 17:00 GMT each day, and they can be watched on demand (only for UK users).

The action will also be fully covered on the BBC Sport website and app.

Every day, there will be live text commentary followed by reports and in-depth analysis following stumps.

The series’ key moments and performances will be covered in columns written by McGrath, Agnew, and Steven Finn.

Our dedicated Ashes page has everything you need to know about and the most recent updates in between tests.

Regular podcasts and an Ashes special will be available on iPlayer after each Test for the Tailenders team, which includes England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson.

Special episodes will be produced for BBC World Service’s Stumped podcast, which will have a new episode every week, and for Hartley and Kate Cross’ award-winning No Balls: The Cricket Podcast.

For the Love of Cricket, Ashes legends Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler will also comment on it.

On BBC Sounds you can hear all of this plus a special From The Ashes series that examines the true accounts of Ashes players.

We’ll keep you informed of all the activity on our social media channels.

As well as the regular content from the TMS podcast, Tailenders and No Balls, the BBC Cricket Instagram account will feature match coverage, player interviews, pundit reactions, and a lot of behind-the-scenes footage from the TMS team in Australia.

One of the most eagerly awaited Ashes series ever will take place in Australia this winter.

Ben Stokes’ men will be hoping to regain the urn for the first time since 2015 when England last won it in 2010-11.

The series ends in Sydney after the first Test, which will take place in Perth. The schedule is as follows:

With online analysis, in-play and post-play video highlights, live text updates, and online analysis, we will make sure you don’t miss any of the action.

The commentary team will be led by Simon Mann and Jim Maxwell, the country’s top cricket commentator.

The punditry team will include former England spinners Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley, as well as legendary Australian seamer Glenn McGrath and Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan from 2005.

Following the end of play each day, there will be in-play video clips of every significant event on the BBC Sport website and app as well as highlights (only available to UK users).

We’ve got you covered if you want to watch more action. Daily highlights of the action will be broadcast on iPlayer starting at 17:00 GMT each day, and they can be watched on demand (only for UK users).

The action will also be fully covered on the BBC Sport website and app.

Every day, there will be live text commentary followed by reports and in-depth analysis following stumps.

The series’ key moments and performances will be covered in columns written by McGrath, Agnew, and Steven Finn.

Our dedicated Ashes page has everything you need to know about and the most recent updates in between tests.

Regular podcasts and an Ashes special will be available on iPlayer after each Test for the Tailenders team, which includes England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson.

Special episodes will be produced for BBC World Service’s Stumped podcast, which will have a new episode every week, and for Hartley and Kate Cross’ award-winning No Balls: The Cricket Podcast.

For the Love of Cricket, Ashes legends Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler will also comment on it.

On BBC Sounds you can hear all of this plus a special From The Ashes series that examines the true accounts of Ashes players.

We’ll keep you informed of all the activity on our social media channels.

As well as the regular content from the TMS podcast, Tailenders and No Balls, the BBC Cricket Instagram account will feature match coverage, player interviews, pundit reactions, and a lot of behind-the-scenes footage from the TMS team in Australia.