England manager Gareth Southgate has said the most abuse he received this summer actually came from anti-vaxxers.
The last few months have served as quite the rollercoaster ride for Southgate and his side in the wake of Euro 2020. After a memorable run that saw the Three Lions reach their first major tournament final since 1966, England fell to a disappointing penalty shootout loss at the hands of Italy at Wembley. It was a summer full of both joy and heartbreak with many now looking ahead to next year’s World Cup in the hope that this team can make a real push towards the trophy in Qatar.
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However, despite all of the anger and frustration that came from England supporters in the wake of the Italy loss, Southgate has revealed that most of the hate he received came from his support for the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
“I think that information from a sort of chief medical perspective was delivered and my understanding, although I’ve not spoken to people at every, club, is that the take up [of the vaccine] has been very varied across different clubs.
“I’m not really going to get too involved in this because I was asked to do a video supporting the vaccination programme, which I thought was responsible and of all the things that I’ve received abuse for over the summer, of which there’s been several, that’s probably the one I’ve received the most abuse over.
“So I’m probably going to keep out of that argument for the time being.”
Southgate’s focus will now turn towards England’s World Cup qualifiers next month against Hungary, Andorra and Poland.
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