When it comes to footballers taking massive – losing – punts, Gareth Southgate knows all about it. A nation held its breath as the ex-England star famously took the biggest gamble of his life on the evening of 26 June 1996. He may not have had a single penny staked on it, but that ill-fated penalty shoot-out with Germany in the European Championships cost him dearly – he lost a reputation. Money from the self-deprecating Pizza Hut adverts that followed must have softened the blow, but even today, Southgate won’t talk to interviewers about the moment that for many has come to define his career.

As I meet with him on a bleak Teeside morning, dwelling on the pain of Euro ’96 isn’t on my agenda.