Southgate backs FA Respect campaign

England senior manager Gareth Southgate has backed the Football Association in its Respect campaign, claiming that it is the reponsibility of all involved in football to facilitate the growth of confidence in young players.

Southgate has personally given five pieces of advice to help "develop young children into people" in a handbook called 'We Only Do Positive'.

The tips are as follows: 

• Create the right environment
• Lead by positive example
• Understand your players
• Build a positive team around you
• Instill an 'anything is possible' attitude

Following an extensive study into the effect of negative behaviour at football matches, the Respect campaign has been engineered to facilitate the notion that anyone can get involved in the game.

Gareth Southgate also spoke to the media of the importance of the introduction of such a campaign in the developmental stage of young footballers.

Southgate said: ""I'm a big believer that positive encouragement is vital to young people's development. Young people, particularly, are impressionable and can easily be affected by comments from adults. So as coaches, teachers and parents, we have to be mindful of the way we communicate."

 

September 5, 2018

He added: "When we're trying to help young people to be as good as they can be, help them to improve, it's more important to find people doing things well and highlight those things, than it is to find fault in performances."

The England manager also referred fondly to his own childhood, where he said his parents were "very supportive but not overly vocal" before he decided to opt for a football career with Crystal Palace. 

He concluded: "I learnt from every coach I worked with. My dad was one of my early coaches but I learnt different things from every coach at youth level. More than anything, they helped reinforce the values that were given to me by my parents."