COVID-19: Gareth Southgate pens emotional letter to England fans

This weekend the England squad were due to gather ahead of the March fixtures, which included games at Wembley against Denmark and Italy.

With the postponement of football until the end of April, those games have been cancelled – and Euro 2020 has been postponed until the summer of 2021.

Gareth Southgate has today written a letter to England supporters, calling for everyone to continue following government guidelines and to support each other during these difficult and uncertain times.

“For everyone in our country, the primary focus of the present – and the coming months – is undoubtedly to look after our families, support our communities and work together to come through what is clearly the most extreme test that we’ve faced collectively in decades,” Southgate said.

“In the way you’ve all come together to support our team, we must now work together to combat a virus that is causing physical and emotional issues to so many. So, please continue to follow the guidelines for hygiene and also the sensible precautions put in place to control the spread of the virus in order to protect those most vulnerable to its impact. That responsibility lies with us all.

“We were due to play next week and to represent you all this summer but now is clearly not the moment for us to take centre stage. The heroes will be the men and women who continue working tirelessly in our hospitals and medical centres to look after our friends and families. They won’t receive the individual acclaim but we all know their importance is beyond anything we do on the pitch.”

Southgate also noted that all of the squad will be able to play in the European Championships next summer and that we shouldn’t spend another moment thinking about the postponement of the competition.

He went on to say: “When we play again as the England team, it will be at a time when not only our country but the rest of the world as well is on the road to recovery. Hopefully we will be closer to each other than ever, and ready for the beautiful distraction that football can bring.

“I feel sure that, when that moment comes, I will never have been prouder to be the leader.”