The quiet revolutionary: Gareth Southgate shows there is a new England way

What did England, the team, mean to you? Mostly negative stuff. What does it mean now? Mostly positive stuff. This is easy to say, but it is a massive gulf that has been crossed.

Deegan Courtman, 7, by a new mural in Nuneaton by artist Nathan Parker, depicting Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, ahead of the England football team playing in the UEFA Euro 2020 final. Picture: Jacob King/PA Wire

The last weeks have seen nothing less than the rebirth of the nation’s football team led by a quiet revolutionary.

Gareth Southgate’s ‘Dear England’ open letter before the tournament was the most thoughtful, humane and progressive missive pretty much anyone has ever written in English football’s history. A remarkable statement of intent, beliefs and values and all part of changing the narrative around England.