'Why is there this trait of hating on England?”

Gareth Southgate may seem an unlikely subject for a National Theatre show, yet this drama about the football manager's reign tackles big issues. El Hunt meets the squad backstage

- El Hunt

LET’S be honest, Gareth Southgate is far from your average theatrical protagonist. Worlds away from a booming Shakespearean king with a thirst for revenge and a serious case of hamartia (I can think of several football managers who more readily fit that role), England’s quietly-spoken manager’s origin story isn’t exactly the ego-inflating rise to triumph you would expect from the central figure in a National Theatre play.

Though admittedly there is a hint of tragedy, since the former pro-footballer is heavily associated with devastating loss, at one time most famous for missing a crucial penalty in 1996 as England faced Germany in the Euro semi-finals.

The image of Southgate looking completely crushed, moments after smashing the ball straight into Andreas Köpke’s waiting gloves, is embroidered into his backstory, along with his more recent penchant for M&S waistcoats.

And yet here he is, the calm centre of a new play, Dear England, by the Nottingham-born playwright James Graham, which opens at the National Theatre this week. Known for grappling with weighty institutions and political hot topics — one of his breakthrough plays, 2012’s This House, explored the business of government from the vantage point of the whip’s office — Graham has his own sharply witty take on the journey of the England men’s team, and its ongoing quest to bring home a trophy.

Southgate is played by theatre veteran (so much so that he’s played the Bard himself in Shakespeare in Love) Joseph Fiennes, alongside Gunnar Cauthery as Gary Lineker, and Gina McKee as team psychologist Pippa Grange.