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Sir Gareth Southgate says young men ‘need better role models’ – and more of them
'The culture we create today will shape the kind of men that we inherit tomorrow.'
Danny Jones -
20th March 2025 
Ex-footballer and England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has called on contemporary society to do better when it comes to young men, insisting that boys today need real role models.
In fact, not to put words in his mouth, but he isn’t just calling out for more of them; more precisely, he believes they need better ones than some of the figures who have found a following in recent years.
Speaking in one of his first public addresses since being knighted in the 2025 New Year’s Honours list and one of a scarce few since stepping down as the Three Lions boss, Southgate gave a lengthy speech as part of the BBC’s annual ‘Richard Dimbleby Lecture’.
The former Crystal Palace, Middlesborough and Aston Villa defender touched on a number of topics in his discussion, including the troubling rise of “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers, whose sole drive is for their own gain” and are finding increasing popularity on social media.
Southgate went on to express the crucial nature of “identity, connection and culture” in contemporary society, insisting that current values are drifting off course.
He went on to state that because of the swirling questions surrounding masculinity, “young men end up withdrawing, reluctant to talk or express their emotions […] They spend more time online searching for direction and are falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling and pornography.”
The 54-year-old also referred to a recent and alarming report by the Centre for Social Justice entitled ‘Lost Boys’, which claims this current generation of young men are “in crisis”.
Southgate also believes that “if we make life too easy for young boys now, we will inevitably make life harder when they grow up to be young men”, arguing that we are at risk of creating a culture where they fear failure so much that “they fail to try, rather than try and fail.”
Drawing from his own experience as a player and his famous penalty miss in Euro ’96, as well as his multiple attempts at winning a major tournament as the national team coach, he reflected on how these experiences made him who he is today – experiences he navigated through thanks to role models.
Put more simply, he suggested that we need to return focus to the importance of teachers, sports coaches, youth groups and ‘proper’/traditional role models, rather than simply allowing the next generation of young men to resort to poor examples online.
"We have to show young men that character is more important than status."
— LBC (@LBC) March 19, 2025
Gareth Southgate demands leaders step up to become positive role models for 'isolated' young men. pic.twitter.com/FMlnqjppQi
The timing of Southgate’s speech hasn’t been lost on large swathes of the British public, in particular, in light of the hit Netflix drama, Adolescence.
Adolescence has quickly become the most-watched show on the streaming platform within less than a week of its global release and deals in plenty of intense subject matter.
Revolving around the story of a young boy accused of a violent crime towards a young girl, the four-part series touches on incel culture, the growing ‘manosphere’ digital community, controversial figures like Andrew Tate and more.
You can listen to Southgate’s lecture on young men and the importance of role models in full HERE.
Read more:
- Man City fan jailed after causing £10k damage to a police vehicle following UCL victory
- Local Adolescence actor urges everyone to watch Netflix hit after ‘overwhelming’ reaction
- Mini Mancs can learn what about animal life at the Science and Industry Museum this spring
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Featured Images — soccer.ru (via Wikimedia Commons)/BBC (screenshot)
