Andy Woodman, Gareth Southgate’s best man at his wedding and former Crystal Palace team-mate, sums it up best. ‘Gareth’s always been too nice or his own good,’ surmised Woodman. ‘I’ve told him on many occasions: “There are times, mate, when you have to be a bastard. Situations when it pays to be cynical.” Might as well have been talking to a wall.’
However, that was in 2003, when the pair of them wrote a joint book detailing their footballing friendship. A lot of football has been played since then, a lot of life lived.