England fans launch petition to put up statue of Gareth Southgate in his home town

ENGLAND fans want a statue of Gareth Southgate erected in the town in which he grew up.

They have launched a petition to honour the Three Lions boss in Crawley, West Sussex.

His parents, Barbara and Clive, still live there.

Southgate went to Hazelwick Secondary and the school’s motto — “Effort Achieves” — was sewn on to pupils’ blazers and serves him well to this day.

He played for the school football team — and lined up alongside X Factor star Chico.

The change.org petition, started during the 2018 World Cup in Russia where England also made the semi-finals, has more than 1,500 signatures.

It reads: “Gareth grew up in Crawley . . . and we believe the council should recognise his achievements with a statue of the man himself!”

The petition has been resurrected following the latest successes.

A council spokesman said: “We’re tremendously proud of what Gareth Southgate has achieved.

“He’s a son of Crawley who grew up here, went to school here and learnt a lot of his football here so we want to recognise his achievements. Nothing has been ruled out.”

Meanwhile, social media users joked Southgate would make a perfect partner after one, Madeline Brettingham, called him “the ultimate middle-aged crush.”

One user wrote: “Gareth would put all the cutlery pointing the same way in the cutlery drawer and hang the tea towel neatly across the oven handle to dry.”

Another said: “He wouldn’t complain about the decorative cushions and would plump and rearrange them after sitting on the sofa”.

Others stated that he would defrost the car and warm your coat on a cold winter’s morning, and do the toast “just how you like it, making sure the butter goes all the way to the edges”.