Euro 2020 friendly: England coach Southgate slams fans who booed players taking a knee

Players have been taking a knee before kickoff in support of the anti-racism ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement but England coach Gareth Southgate said some fans view it as a ‘political stand’ they do not agree with.

England coach Gareth Southgate said some fans do not understand the message behind players taking a knee before matches after the gesture was booed ahead of Wednesday’s 1-0 friendly win over Austria. Around 7,000 fans were at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium for the Euro 2020 warm-up and jeers could be heard from sections of the crowd before they were drowned out by applause from other supporters. Players have been taking a knee before kickoff in support of the anti-racism ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement but Southgate said some fans view it as a ‘political stand’ they do not agree with. “I was pleased it was drowned out by the majority of the crowd but we can`t deny it happened,” Southgate said. “It’s not something on behalf of our Black players that I wanted to hear because it feels as though it is a criticism of them. I think the majority of people understand it. Some people aren`t quite understanding the message and I suppose we are seeing that across a number of football grounds at the moment.”