Readers' Letters: Harrogate’s Southgate did well – but England fans need to manage expectations

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. 

This letter follows England’s loss against Spain at the Euro 2024 final. This reader gives his opinion on manager Gareth Southgate, who has since resigned, and offers a word of advice to England fans going forward.

So, after all the hype, we lost to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.

As a direct consequence, manager Gareth Southgate has resigned. To be fair, Spain was the better team on the night and throughout the tournament.

Just before 10pm that night, the pubs and bars on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate went silent… a bedraggled support base started to make their way home.

The next day, the town and most of the country was in mourning. Though for some of us with a few miles on the clock, we have become almost immune to the pain. 

I bumped into a friend in Valley Gardens who, with a shrug of the shoulders, told me there is always 2026 to look forward to. Here we go again.

But I believe Harrogate’s own Gareth Southgate has done more than a reasonable job. His record speaks for itself - good luck to his successor.

It is of course good to see the country pulling together – even more than we see on state occasions – but this outpouring of national pride has once again proved to be counterproductive.

The new manager of the national team will need to come to terms with this if we are to progress. Not an easy task, as the mindset of the nation must change, but it will only happen if the media is onside.

With this in mind, let’s hope we can manage our expectations better in 2026, based on an understanding that there are no weak teams at this level and we cannot expect to win just because we are English.

Hopefully, the next time we enter the boozer on an England match day the vision will be more realistic, so we have the chance to leave pleasantly surprised.

Michael Janes, Harrogate

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