Matt Maher: Gareth Southgate hits the mark with his take on society

Call-ups for Fikayo Tomori and Jarrod Bowen were discussed, as was the omission of Villa defender Tyrone Mings, when Southgate met with the media on Tuesday for the first time this summer ahead of next month’s Nations League fixtures.

Yet, for the most part, the Three Lions boss found himself addressing the alarming rise in fan disorder seen across English football in recent weeks. Typically, Southgate spoke eloquently and thoughtfully on the subject, pointing out – just as he has previously when talking about racism – how what happens in sport is often a reflection of wider society.

“We are in difficult moment as a country,” he said. “I recognise that for many people in our society there are financial difficulties, and maybe that is playing a part, and we’ve been in a pandemic with huge restrictions for a long time.

“I think we are going to have more difficult times because of the economy and the reality of the situation we are in. But we have to look at what we are doing in terms of parenting, in terms of everything really. How do we want to be viewed as a country? That is manifesting itself in football at the moment and it is not a good look.”

“Football has a responsibility and we have to do our bit. But football reflects society.”

Whatever Southgate’s strengths and weaknesses as a football coach, his ability to get right to the heart of the biggest issues has always been seriously impressive. The English game really couldn’t ask for a better spokesman in its most high-profile role.

On the flip side, when a man whose primary task is to win football matches is capable of speaking with greater clarity on such topics than many politicians, it may go some way to explaining why society finds itself in the place it does.

Sport does not exist in a bubble. It has been impossible not to view some recent events in Westminster and ponder whether the sense of entitlement and lack of accountability seen there has not in some way seeped down and contributed to the do-as-I-damned-well-please attitudes witnessed in pitch invasions at Nottingham Forest, Everton and elsewhere.

Journalists need to be careful when writing about fan behaviour. There aren’t too many occasions when it feels appropriate for those who do not pay to attend matches to tell those who do how they should feel or react to the fortunes of their team. Pitch invasions have long been part of football, helping create some of the sport’s most cherished images.

There has been a distinctly different mood, however, to those seen in recent weeks, a menacing undertone which spilled over into violence with the assaults on Billy Sharp, Jordan Bowery and Robin Olsen.

The majority of those running on to the pitch mean no harm. But the senseless minority remains significant. For an increasing number the act seems fuelled less by spontaneous joy than a calculated desire to become part of the spectacle and show-off on social media. Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieria having a camera phone shoved in his face while being taunted as he walked across the Goodison Park pitch offered the best evidence of that.

Going on to the playing surface has been a criminal offence since 1991 but enforcing the law when thousands do so at once has never been practical. The past week has inevitably seen calls for more stewarding and tougher policing but the reality is mass pitch invasions are difficult to stop.

What is likely should the current trend continue is tougher punishments, both for supporters and clubs. A return to fences seems a last resort but reduced capacities are more than possible. In a statement this week, the Football Supporters’ Association bluntly laid out the consequences for fans who find themselves hit with a Football Banning Order (FBO).

It explained: “When individual supporters are charged with pitch incursions we often pick up the pieces, explaining to young fans that yes, it is against the law, and yes, it will affect your employment and educational opportunities. There is no nice spin we can put on that.”

Whenever big crowds of people gather, the law of averages dictates there will always be idiots intent on spoiling the fun.

The key, as Southgate noted, is on educating those at risk of being swayed by the mindless minority and in that regard we all have a role to play. It’s the little things that matter.

“Why do people dump their rubbish when they drive out of a service station?” the England manager remarked one point. Such an example might seem a world away from the scenes which sparked the conversation but at its root it is the same. Ultimately, it all comes down to a question of respect. Right now, too many don’t have enough of it.