Southgate will earn £3m a year after salary hike
England coach to almost double wage in new deal Ashworth resigns from technical director role
A significantly improved contract for England manager Gareth Southgate is expected to be passed by the Football Association at its board meeting today.
It is understood Southgate has agreed a salary increase from £1.5 million-£1.8 million a year to around £3million.
The deal is unconnected to the departure of technical director Dan Ashworth. The Daily Telegraph revealed this week that Ashworth was expected to move to Brighton and Hove Albion, and he handed in his notice yesterday. The FA is set to hold Ashworth to the six-month notice period in his contract, so unless he can agree an early release, he will stay on until the end of March.
The FA is expected to extend Southgate’s contract to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. That is less important as it sounds as, under his present deal, he already has the option to extend for two more years should England reach Euro 2020.
If England failed to qualify for that competition it would, in reality, be difficult for Southgate to remain in his post anyway but he and the FA were keen to renegotiate the terms of his contract after his success in reaching the World Cup semi-finals.
Although Southgate was not demanding a big pay rise, he was aware that his salary was significantly lower than his predecessors – not just Fabio Capello or Svengoran Eriksson but Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce.
If, as expected, the deal is ratified, then Southgate is due to sign before England face Croatia away in the Uefa Nations League on Oct 12.
There had been suggestions that the 48-year-old former England defender had misgivings about the scrutiny he faced, and the attention his family received, as manager. Although it is not something he is comfortable with, it is not believed to have been a major issue.
Southgate’s future was never tied to what Ashworth decided to do but losing him will make the FA more determined to keep their manager happy. There had been a growing expectation that Ashworth would like to return to club football. The 47-year-old former West Brom technical director will play a part in the recruitment of his successor.
“I had a brief discussion with Martin [Glenn] when I resigned and he would like my input in trying to find a successor and it will be a privilege and honour to do so,” Ashworth, who joined the FA in 2013, said. “I passionately believe in developing young players and working with players on a daily basis and the buying and selling of players to build a team and a squad. We never buy or sell anybody as an England team. I have missed those two facets of the job so it’s an opportunity that Brighton, which is a wonderful club with a brilliant project, have given me.”
Last year, former FA former board member Dame Heather Rabbatts called Ashworth’s position “untenable” after claims by Women in Football that the FA did not carry out due diligence when Mark Sampson was appointed as England women’s boss in 2013.
Ashworth helped appoint Sampson – who was sacked after evidence of “inappropriate and unacceptable” behaviour with female players in a previous role – in Dec 2013.
However, he stayed in his post and played a key role in preparations for England’s World Cup campaign and, with the development of St George’s Park also, will look back on his time as FA technical director as a success.
During his tenure, England Women finished third at the 2015 World Cup and reached the semifinal stage of the 2017 European Championship.
Also, England’s men’s youth team won the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups as well as the European Under-19 Championship.