Gareth Southgate blames ‘inherited thinking’ for children booing England gesture in Hungary

England manager Gareth Southgate blamed “inherited thinking” as a crowd of over 30,000 supporters – mainly children – jeered his players taking the knee ahead of their Nations League defeat in Hungary.

The Three Lions were once again booed as they performed their pre-match anti-racism and discrimination gesture, despite the hosts being forced to play behind closed doors.

The majority of the bottom two tiers of the Puskas Arena were full for the Group A3 opener in Budapest as Dominik Szoboszlai’s second-half penalty secured a 1-0 win for the hosts.

Uefa had ordered Hungary to play three games in empty stadiums, the third of which has been suspended, following the behaviour of fans during Euro 2020.

Hungary also have concurrent Fifa sanctions in place – a two-match stadium ban with a game suspended, following racist abuse aimed at England players during the 4-0 World Cup qualifying win last September.

One of the Uefa stadium bans came here against England but, while article 73 of the governing body’s disciplinary regulations caps the number of VIP guests, team delegations, Uefa staff and those holding complimentary tickets, there is no limit on the number of school children invited to the match free of charge, with one adult accompanying every 10 children.

That led to the unsavoury scenes before kick-off, with Southgate believing the thousands of children in attendance were ‘influenced’ by their elders.

“How that aligns with the decision is difficult to understand,” Southgate replied when asked if the attendance for the game makes a mockery of Uefa’s rulings.

“From a development perspective, I want and need the team to be playing in front of supporters. But of course, that’s not the point in this instance.

“So I’m torn on