England's Gareth Southgate signs contract extension until 2024

Posted Tuesday, November 23, 2021 by ESPN

Gareth Southgate has signed a contract extension to stay on as England manager until the end of 2024.

Southgate's previous deal would have expired after next year's World Cup finals in Qatar, and he had been reluctant to discuss an extension until qualification for that tournament was assured.

But with England needing four points from two matches against Andorra and San Marino this month, talks began to accelerate during the recent international break. The Football Association confirmed on Monday that an agreement had been reached.

Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland have both agreed new deals, with sources telling ESPN the England manager will receive a significant increase on his old £3 million-a-year deal.

"I am delighted that Steve and I have been able to extend our stay in our respective roles," Southgate said in a statement.

"It remains an incredible privilege to lead this team.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark [Bullingham], John [McDermott] and the board for their support -- and of course the players and support team for their hard work.

"We have a great opportunity in front of us and I know they and the fans are all excited about what this squad could achieve in future."

Southgate added that he had no interest in any of the club jobs that had become available in recent weeks.

Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Norwich all changed managers this month before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked as Manchester United boss on Sunday but Southgate insisted he had no interest in club management given how far talks had already advanced with the FA.

"The reality is we had already agreed. Although we didn't feel it was right to announce things before we'd qualified for a World Cup, the conversations we'd had with Mark and John, we knew what we wanted to do," he said.

"I think sometimes people are always looking at what's next in their life and next in their career and maybe don't live a fulfilling life in the role you are in or the relationship you are in. In football, when you've got a team who are a good team where you've done a lot of the work culturally to get them where you want them to be and you've got them to a point where they can challenge, you want to bring that to fruition, you want to have a go."

Southgate's salary bump -- sources have told ESPN his new deal is worth around £5m-a-year but could rise further if performance clauses and bonuses are met -- is a reflection of his successful five-year spell after succeeding Sam Allardyce, who was sacked just one game into replacing Roy Hodgson amid a newspaper sting claiming he offered advice on how to "get around" rules on player transfers.

England's Gareth Southgate signs contract extension until 2024
Gareth Southgate has led an improvement in England performances. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

The FA was in a difficult position at that point on and off the field, with England crashing out of Euro 2016 at the round-of-16 stage with a humiliating 2-1 defeat to Iceland. But Southgate has instigated a dramatic upturn in fortunes, guiding England to their best tournament performance by a men's team for 55 years when reaching the final of Euro 2020.

Although England were beaten on penalties by Italy in July, it marked another step forward, having previously reached the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and a third-place finish in the inaugural UEFA Nations League a year later.

Southgate has won 44 of his 68 matches -- losing just 10 -- and he is the longest-serving manager in terms of games in charge since Sir Bobby Robson, who was at the helm for 95 fixtures between 1982 and 1990.