Following the biggest game of his coaching career, Gareth Southgate may this morning be reflecting on what could have been.

Working as an estate agent often means that you get to dress smartly, are given a company car or a car allowance, while some agencies even offer their staff discount if they decide to rent or sell their property. What is there not to like?

But Southgate opted for a different path, despite training to become an agent.

Long before enjoying a successful career as a football player and later England manager, Southgate was given an opportunity to work as an agent.

After Southgate was released by Southampton as a youngster, Crystal Palace youth team manager Alan Smith, who later managed the first team, decided to introduce the now England manager to an estate agent, but only after urging him to consider becoming a travel agent.

Smith told the BBC: “I had a doubt whether or not he had a career in professional football in him. We had one particular game, which we lost, and I called him into the office and said, “Gareth, I think you’re too bright to do this job. I think you have to make a choice. If it was my choice, I think you should become a travel agent.”

Smith added: “I introduced him to an estate agent friend of mine that got him to do some work after training. He was measuring up, mundane stuff, looking to see if a property could be marketed or not. All of these things help build the character you become. It opened his eyes to what was out there and showed him what it was like to deal with people outside football.”

Smith eventually made Southgate captain of Crystal Palace, and the rest is history.