Gareth Southgate’s love life from hushed-up dates to 24 years of marriage 

Gareth Southgates relationship with his wife got off to a strange start, but after 24 years of marriage, the pair couldn’t be happier at home with the family

Gareth Southgate and Alison have enjoyed a log and happy marriage together, with the footballer’s wife being called one of England’s greatest assets.

It’s an important date for 51-year-old Gareth (May 31) as its England’s press conference day.

The England manager will once again have Alison, 52, at his side throughout it, with the sports star regularly talking about how much his family means to him.

They may be happy now, but their relationship got off to a strange start, with the two often meeting covertly in a Tesco carpark.

Their less than conventional start laid the foundations to one of football’s strongest relationships.

How did Gareth and Alison meet?

The pair first met when they were in their early 20s, back when Gareth was still up-and-coming at Crystal Palace.

As he recalled in his 2003 autobiography, he was incredibly shy with Alison at first, despite being so self-assured on the pitch.

At the time, Alison worked in a shop in Croydon, which led Gareth to loiter around the store, pretending to look at clothes just so he could see her and strike up a conversation.

Despite his affections for Alison, she was in a committed relationship at the time, living with her boyfriend.

However, he later saw her and her boyfriend at a restaurant and overheard they were on the verge of breaking up.

He saw his chance and took it, slipping her his number while the boyfriend wasn’t looking.

They arranged to meet the very next day, but had to do so secretly in a Tesco carpark to avoid being discovered by her ex.

When did Gareth and Alison get married?

Their early covert dates clearly paid off, as the two were married just two years later in July 1997.

They wed near Gareth’s family home in Crawley and have been together since for nearly 25 years.

One of the strengths of their marriage appears to be, ironically, Alison’s disinterest in football and the separation from work and home life.

In his autobiography, Gareth explained: “On Saturday evening, our children are not too bothered whether Dad’s team have won or lost.

“Neither does Alison fret too much about football, and this is how I like it.

“Regardless of the result, it is up to me to ensure that no one’s evening is ruined because of things that happened on a football field.

“The agonising waits until Alison and the kids are asleep.”

How many children do Gareth and Alison have?

The couple now have two children together, their daughter Mia, 22, and their son Flynn, 18.

The football legend has always been open about how important his family life is, telling the Standard in 2017 that his children are equal to anything else.

Gareth said: “Over the last couple of weeks I’ve just had a nice time spending it with the family though, and for me that’s important because my kids are 18 and 14, and their development is as important for me as anything else in my life.

“You do have to try to find a balance because my focus inevitably gets drawn towards making this team as successful as we can and driving them to be the best team in the world, but I’m also a dad and a husband.”

Who did Gareth Southgate play for?

Gareth hasn’t been a player since 2006 when he retired from the sport.

He has been in football for most of his life as he was set up with Crystal Palace before joining a senior team in 1988.

From there, he made 152 appearances for the Eagles until 1995 when he joined Aston Villa.

He made 192 appearances for the team before wrapping up career with Middlesbrough with over 150 appearances.

From 2006 to 2009, he managed Middlesbrough, before making the leap to England U21 from 2013 to 2016.

Finally, in September 2016, be became England’s manager after Sam Allardyce left the team.