GARETH SOUTHGATE has stepped down as England manager after his side lost to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
The ex-Three Lions boss took charge of the national side back in 2016 and led England to a World Cup semi-final, quarter-final and two Euros finals.
Though he didn’t manage to end England’s 58-year drought without a trophy, Southgate has decided to step away from his role having restored pride in the team.
Southgate and Alison met when the now-England boss was a trainee at Crystal Palace.
She was working as a shop assistant, and Gareth used to say he was visiting so he could add more to his wardrobe. Really though, it was the girl behind the till he was there to see.
Whilst she was in a relationship at the time they first met, Gareth wasted no time swooping in when he heard Alison had split up with her boyfriend.
He handed her his number as soon as he found out – and she called him that same night. In his 2003 autobiography, Gareth revealed in the early days they used to sneak to a Tesco car park for dates to keep their new relationship secret from her ex.
The pair eventually got married in July 1997 near Southgate’s family home in Crawley.
Alison prefers to keep out of the limelight – however, she’s appeared by her husband’s side on many occasions.
The pair have two children, Mia and Flynn. Southgate has talked about the importance of maintaining a normal parent-child relationship, despite his time-sapping and full-on job.
He told the Standard in 2017: “Over the last couple of weeks I’ve just had a nice time spending it with the family though, and for me that’s important because my kids are 18 and 14, and their development is as important for me as anything else in my life.
“You do have to try to find a balance because my focus inevitably gets drawn towards making this team as successful as we can and driving them to be the best team in the world. “But I’m also a dad and a husband.”
The England manager retired as a player in 2006 and made 57 appearances for England.
Southgate started his career in the youth set-up at Crystal Palace before making his senior team debut in 1988.
He made 152 appearances for the Eagles before moving to Aston Villa in 1995 where he made 192 and then he completed his career at Middlesbrough – again with over 150 appearances for the club.
His achievements as a player include the 1993-1994 First Division title with Palace and coming a runner-up in the 2000 FA Cup when Villa lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
He went on to manage Middlesbrough from 2006-2009 and the England U21 from 2013-2016.
He became manager of England on September 27, 2016, after the departure of Sam Allardyce.
