Gareth Southgate: England boss promises to look at why girls have been treated differently

Gareth Southgate has told Newsround he wants to know why girls who play football have been treated differently to boys during the coronavirus lockdown.

Both girls' academies and girls' regional talent clubs (RTC) in England were told they had to close until 2 December, while boys of the same age and at the same clubs and academies have been allowed to continue to play.

Newsround viewer Ellie, who has been training with Wigan Athletic, and started a petition to try to persuade the Football Association (FA) to change its mind, wanted to know why there are different rules for girls' football. Ellie's question was put to Southgate by Newsround.

Southgate, manager of the men's England football team, said: "I don't know exactly why that was. I think part of it is that some of the testing programmes were in place in the men's seniors game, but I know that a lot of the boys academies were closed as well for a long time, so it did feel as if there was a, one rule for one group and one for the other, but I don't know all of the process behind that decision.

"I'll have to do some research at the FA to find out exactly why that was."

Under the rules, only 'elite' athletes have been allowed to continue to train, and while football academies for boys are classed as 'elite', those for girls are instead considered 'grassroots', which have been stopped during England's lockdown. The FA said girls over the age of 16 could train if academies met certain requirements.

Earlier this month Ellie said "change is still needed" so that girls have access to the same 'elite' opportunities as the boys.

"The FA needs to look at changing the label of 'grassroots' to 'elite' for talented girl footballers from age eight the same as the boys, to value the girls for their talent," she said.

"Currently girls cannot be called 'elite' until they are 18 years old but boys can from eight years.

"This does not send the right message to girls aspiring to progress in football, and suggests there are no professional opportunities for girls in football, and this is not true."

Kelly Simmons, the FA's director of the women's professional game, said: "It is a big gear change to move from grassroots to elite, especially overnight.

"It is heartbreaking to think that's the situation for girls, but our duty as the FA is to make sure those girls are safe.

"Unfortunately the women's game doesn't have the same resource level as the men's game and therefore we can't risk putting those players in an environment without everything there needs to be."

What else did the England boss talk about?

Southgate has used spare time during the coronavirus lockdown to write a brand new book all about helping kids achieve their goals and being the best they can be.

Continuing on the subject of opportunities for girls in football, Southgate said: "Firstly it's becoming more and more accepted, that girls play.

"Five, 10 years back, the girls who started playing for the national team, they were having to pretend they were boys to play, cut their hair short, they had some amazing stories.

"I think lots more is possible now, there have been barriers for girls within sport, they haven't had the same opportunities as boys, but I really think that's changing."

Southgate has experienced highs and lows during his career, including missing a penalty as England were knocked out of the Euro 96 competition 24 years ago.

Newsround viewer Maisey asked how the England boss deals with the tougher moments.

"Those moments are really difficult and they're quite painful actually," Southgate said.

"At the time you think you're never going to recover from them. But actually, there's always another day, there's always another opportunity to go and do things.

"One of the most important things is you're brave enough to put that disappointment behind you."

Gareth Southgate also talked about Diego Maradona, the legendary Argentine footballer who recently died aged 60.

"You're talking about the skill level of a Messi from today, with the physical strength more like Ronaldo and what was amazing about him was that when Argentina won the World Cup, I think most people would say they didn't have an incredible team, but he almost carried the whole team with him.

"He was able to dribble past people, he was able to shoot, score with headers, he basically could do everything."

'Anything is Possible: Be Brave, Be Kind and Follow your Dreams' by Gareth Southgate is out now.