Looking back on where we first met, I am not ashamed but I cannot forget. Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again!
My words, nay, the country’s words over a finite period in June and July of course.
Our ode to England manager Gareth Southgate formed from Atomic Kitten’s Whole Again became our bread and butter, something we heard at every corner, on every street, in every video on all social media feeds.
Here’s me and the lads singing it following England’s penalty shootout victory against Colombia:
Wow. What a night. Don’t think it’ll ever be topped. You know what? I’m gonna buy one of these Southgate Christmas jumpers now.
Oh, yeah, you can buy a Gareth Southgate Christmas jumper with ‘Christmas is coming home’ written on the back. The lions are wearing Santa hats, it’s all very wholesome and appealing.
£35 it’ll cost you. Worth it? Maybe, just maybe. For Southgate.
The description on NotJust reads:
Remember those hot, halcyon days of the heatwave, watching England win on penalties with that waistcoat on the sideline? We do – in fact, we’ll never forget them. Christmas is coming home this year, even if football isn’t.
Designed and manufactured in Great Britain, it is:
Available in S | M | L | XL
100% Acrylic
Machine Washable
Ribbed and elasticated neck, cuffs and hems
Regular fit
They add:
To produce one of these Gareth Southgate ‘Coming Home’ Christmas jumpers is time-consuming, highly specialised and technically intricate work. Using the latest hi-tech knitting machines, it takes 45 minutes to weave the front and back sections. The sleeves are cut by hand and the collar is attached by carefully feeding each jumper into a separate machine – all of which is done by hand, by experts.
What a year it’s been for Southgate, though. In one tournament he turned his personal Euro 96 heartbreak into something beautiful, as good a comeback we’ve ever seen, on par with Brando in The Godfather.
He’d previously said, around the time of that golden second round win:
Missing my penalty [at Euro 96] will never be ‘off my back’, sadly. That’s something that will live with me for ever. But today is a special moment for this team. It’ll hopefully give belief to the generations of players that will follow.
We always have to believe in what is possible in life and not be hindered by history or expectations. These young players are showing that.
He added:
I’m already thinking about Sweden, a team I respect hugely. We’ve always underestimated them, and we don’t have a good record against them, but they have a clear way of playing and it’s bloody difficult to play against. But what a game to look forward to.
What a game it was, Gareth! We trounced the f***ers. Bing bang stick it in, thank you goodnight (let’s not talk about the game after that).
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