Gareth Southgate reveals reason why he quit England job

'I don't think you can have regrets'

The former England manager stepped down after defeat in the final of Euro 2024 against Spain two months ago in July.

The 54-year-old took charge of the England side in 2016 and has led The Three Lions to two Euros finals as well as semi-final and quarter-final at two World Cups.

In an interview with Sky News, Southgate described his time as England manager as an "incredible eight-year journey with the team" and that it had been "an absolute privilege" to manage his country.

He confirmed his reason for leaving the team, saying: "I think it was probably the right time for change.

"I don't think you can have regrets. We made decisions with the information we had at the time to try and produce a winning team."

He added that he had "given the job everything [he] had."

"We raised expectations and that was important. We needed to put English football back on the map," he said.

Southgate was quizzed about the comments from Gary Lineker about his squad choices during the Euros in Germany.

The former England player and manager said that he had "shut [himself] off from everything" since leaving the role.

He said: "There's no point in me talking about the team now.

"It's for me to let other people take over, to give them the space to go and take the team on to the next challenges. There's no point in me getting involved in anything like that."

Southgate was also asked about a potential return to football management to which he responded he was "not going to rush into anything".

"I've got lots of opportunities, I'm very open-minded to what's next," he said.

"That might be in football, that might be outside of football. I'm just going to take some time, refresh, recharge and go from there.

"I think at the moment people know that I need to get my energy back."