IF THERE was one picture which summed up the end of our 2018 World Cup dream it was that shot of Gareth Southgate, in a near empty stadium, hugging the woman he loves best.

If he and his team had pulled it off she’d have been Lady Southgate by next weekend.

But she won’t care about that and neither will he, because what Gareth Southgate knows is that despite Bill Shankly’s insistence, there are things which are far, far more important than football.

And that’s why he was able to take his team as far as he did.

Southgate knows that being a great husband, being a loving, encouraging dad and being a son to be proud of are what count in this life.

He knows that setting a good example, being well-mannered and being modest are worth something long after a final goal has been scored.

He knows that fair play, remaining focused, and competing as a team are the only way to be, if you have any hope of emulating those legends that brought home the Jules Rimet trophy.

Watching him comforting his heartbroken young players was truly impressive. And we instinctively know he won’t have been muttering down their ears about how we was all robbed, and the ref made ridiculous decisions, and everyone was cheating even though, to most of us, it still looks like that’s exactly what happened.

Gareth Southgate knows that moaning and complaining and whingeing won’t get the job done.

He sees nothing wrong with being proud of being English, of flying the flag of our patron saint and singing God Save The Queen and I thank him for it because I am sick of hearing people claiming it’s racist or embarrassing, or might offend people.

Being proud of being English doesn’t take anything away from anyone or anywhere else. Flying the cross of St George is no different to flying the flag of St Patrick, St Andrew or St David.

It is not racist to be proud the achievements of your country, like the NHS which is 70 years young and has saved and improved the lives of millions of people.

It’s not racist or wrong or embarrassing to celebrate the 100th birthday of the RAF, the Royal Wedding, success at cricket, the beautiful countryside, the dazzling architecture and stupendous artworks and literature this nation has produced.

It’s not racist to be proud to share a nationality with that other great team we heard about this week – the British cave divers whose sheer courage and endeavour has helped bring about the rescue of the Thai soccer boys. The divers are so modest they make Southgate look brash but the fact is that someone’s going to have to break it to them that they are due a trip to Buck House for their trouble.

Finally, our England football team looks like England. It’s behaved as we would like England to behave all the time, it, and its manager shows our nicest qualities and us at our very best.

Every four years for this paper I used to write a column which could be summed up thus: Football’s not coming home.

I was able to say that with confidence because, given the state of our national team, plus the hopeless cases that tended to manage them, it was obvious we were never going anywhere in any World Cup.

The reasons for this were tragically evident. With the exception of one or two good eggs, our teams seemed to consist of a bunch of prima donnas who reckoned they were far better than they actually were.

Only four years ago in Brazil, after what was possibly the most cringe-making exit we’ve ever had from a World Cup, we had Wayne Rooney slating the fans.

Well, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

We didn’t do it this time. But thanks to Gareth Southgate and the boys of 2018 I now believe it’s only a matter of time. This was a team that the ghosts of 1966 would recognise as they would also see that the spirit they lit has been rekindled, on and off the field, and in the country.

We’ve proved that while the naysayers like to portray us as some tragic little island full of people looking backwards, we can put out a team that reflects who we really are – young people of every ethnic community who have upheld high standards, united the country, and done their very best.

It may not feel like it because we don’t have the trophy. But football really has come home and I never believed it would. Here’s to Euro 2020!