Gary Neville

Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a commentator for Sky Sports, until he took over the head coach position at Valencia in 2015. After being sacked by the club in 2016, he returned to his position as a pundit for Sky Sports later that year. He was also assistant manager for the England national team from 2012 to 2016.

As a player, Neville played as a right-back and spent his entire playing career with Manchester United, making him a one-club man. At the time of his retirement in 2011, he was the second-longest-serving player at the club behind long-time teammate Ryan Giggs, and had served as club captain for five years. He is one of the most decorated English and European footballers of all time, having won a total of 20 trophies, including eight Premier League titles and two Champions League titles.

Neville made his international debut in 1995 and was first-choice right-back for England for more than 10 years, representing the nation at three European Championships and two World Cups. He is England's most-capped right-back with 85 caps.

Neville is the older brother of twin siblings: his brother, Phil Neville, is currently head coach of Inter Miami CF in MLS and is a former player for Manchester United and Everton, and his sister, Tracey Neville, is a retired netball international.

Club career

1994–2004

Neville joined Manchester United as an apprentice upon leaving school in 1991, and captained the youth side to FA Youth Cup glory in his first season. He made his senior debut for United in September 1992 against Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup. Neville emerged as part of Alex Ferguson's youth-oriented side of the 1990s (nicknamed ''Fergie's Fledglings'', an updated take on the 1950s equivalent ''Busby Babes'') that included his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes.

In the 1994–95 season, Neville became United's first-choice right-back when Paul Parker was ruled out by injury, and remained so until his retirement, although in his first season as a regular player he often found himself on the sidelines as Denis Irwin was switched to right-back with Lee Sharpe (normally a winger) filling the left-back role.

Neville scored the first goal of his career in 1997 against Middlesbrough in a 3–3 draw, and he went on to score a total of five league goals for United; against Everton in 1999, Aston Villa in a 2–0 victory on 20 January 2001, the sole goal against Leicester City on 13 April 2004, and his final league goal came a week later when he scored the second in a 2–0 victory over Charlton Athletic on 20 April 2004. Neville also scored two goals in the UEFA Champions League, the first on 12 March 2003, when he scored the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with FC Basel, and his seventh and final ever United goal against Lyon on 23 November 2004 in Alex Ferguson's 1,000th game in charge of the club, a 2–1 victory.

Neville formed a successful partnership with Beckham on the right wing, regularly contributing assists.

2005–2011

In January 2005, Neville was critical of Nike for starting anti-racism campaign Stand Up Speak Up, accusing them of being involved for good public relations. Neville made the comments after refusing to wear a training top bearing the logo ahead of a fixture against rivals Arsenal. Writing in ''The Independent'', journalist Sam Wallace said Neville's refusal, as well as that of teammates Scholes and captain Roy Keane, caused friction between the two teams before the match.

Following Keane's departure in November 2005, Neville was appointed the new club captain. In January 2006, his actions were the subject of some controversy after his celebration in front of the visiting Liverpool fans at Old Trafford, when he was seen to run from the halfway line towards the opposing fans to celebrate the 90th minute injury-time winning headed goal by United defender Rio Ferdinand. His actions were criticised by Liverpool and fellow England defender Jamie Carragher, sections of the media and police who blamed him for disturbances between fans after the game. He was subsequently charged with improper conduct by the FA. Neville contested this, asking if it was preferable for players to act like "robots" and show no emotions. He was fined £5,000 and warned about his future conduct.

Neville recovered from an injury suffered against Bolton Wanderers in March 2007 and in his first match back, a reserve game against Everton in January 2008, he scored a rare goal in the 21st minute of the game which helped Manchester United to a 2–2 draw.

On 9 April 2008, Neville made his long-awaited comeback against Roma in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Anderson; Neville was welcomed back to the pitch with a standing ovation, and was promptly given the captain's armband. It was Neville's 99th Champions League appearance. However, he was not selected for the European Cup final squad on 21 May, though he did join in with the post-match celebrations after United won on penalties following a 1–1 draw with Chelsea. Instead, Rio Ferdinand and Giggs lifted the trophy together having shared the captaincy during Neville's absence.

Neville started his first game in 17 months when he captained Manchester United for the 2008 FA Community Shield against Portsmouth on 10 August 2008. He then made another start against Zenit Saint Petersburg in the UEFA Super Cup, before making his first start at home since his injury against Villarreal in the opening group game of the 2008–09 Champions League. On 21 September 2008, Neville started his first league game in almost 18 months when he played against Chelsea. Neville extended his stay at Old Trafford until June 2010.

On 27 October 2009, Neville was sent off for a tackle on Adam Hammill in United's 2–0 away win against Barnsley in the League Cup Fourth Round. Neville added another medal to his honours list on 28 February 2010 when he came on as a substitute for Rafael in the 2–1 League Cup final win over Aston Villa. He did feature in enough league games to qualify for what would have been his ninth title medal, but United were beaten to the Premier League title by Chelsea who finished ahead of them by a single point. Neville signed a new one-year contract in April 2010.

Having made only sporadic appearances in the last couple of seasons, Neville stepped down as team captain in September 2010 in preference of a more-regular first-team player, usually Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić or Patrice Evra, although he remained as club captain off the pitch. On 24 October, Neville made his 600th appearance and his penultimate start for United in a 2–1 away victory against Stoke City; after receiving a 34th minute yellow card for a foul against Matthew Etherington, Neville was shown leniency seven minutes later for another reckless tackle on the same player, and was substituted at half-time for Wes Brown.

Retirement

On 2 February 2011, Neville announced his retirement from football after almost 20 years playing at Manchester United. Neville's final professional appearance was against West Bromwich Albion on New Year's Day 2011, a 2–1 victory at The Hawthorns. Neville later revealed that, during half-time of his last game, he sat on the toilet and knew for certain that it would be his last game. By the time of his retirement, Neville had won eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two Champions Leagues, an Intercontinental Cup, a FIFA Club World Cup, and two League Cups. The 2006 League Cup was his first trophy as captain.

His testimonial was played at Old Trafford against Juventus on 24 May 2011. Manchester United's starting line-up included members of the " Class of '92": Neville was joined by his brother Phil, Beckham, Butt, Scholes and Giggs. Juventus won the match 2–1. He made another appearance in Paul Scholes' testimonial at Old Trafford on 5 August 2011, playing for the New York Cosmos in their first fixture since their re-establishment in 2010.

International career

Neville made his first appearance for England in 1995 when he was picked by Terry Venables for the friendly against Japan. On 23 May 1996, he was joined in the England team by his brother Phil Neville for a match against China; they had also appeared together in the 1996 FA Cup Final two weeks earlier and thus were the first pair of brothers to play together in an FA Cup-winning side and for England in the same season since Hubert and Francis Heron in 1877, 119 years earlier.

He was subsequently selected at right-back for his country by five different coaches. The form of Manchester City's Micah Richards, Liverpool's Glen Johnson and Neville's Manchester United teammate Wes Brown placed his position in the England team under threat in the latter years of his career.

Neville had been the youngest first-choice player in the England first team during his debut tournament, Euro 96, playing in each game until the semi-final, for which he was suspended after receiving a yellow card in two separate games. England were knocked out by the eventual winners, Germany, in a penalty shootout. In June 1997, he participated in the Tournoi de France, the friendly international football tournament held in France as a warm-up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also played in the 1998 World Cup under the tenure of Glenn Hoddle as manager. As "a bit of a sceptic", Neville did not see Eileen Drewery, the faith healer Hoddle had brought into the England squad. Neville also played at Euro 2000 during the tenure of Kevin Keegan as manager.

A broken foot ruled Neville out of the 2002 World Cup, but he quickly returned to the side after regaining his fitness, and was once again the first-choice right-back by the time of Euro 2004, with the team now being managed by Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Neville missed the latter stages of the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup with injury. He returned to the England team in March 2006 for a friendly against Uruguay. Neville was selected for England's 2006 World Cup squad. He played in England's opening Group B game against Paraguay but pulled his calf in training the night before the team's second game and was forced to miss the next three games until playing the full match in England's losing quarter-final against Portugal on 1 July. It was his 81st England cap, bringing him up to ninth in the all-time rankings, ahead of Gary Lineker and teammate Michael Owen, who had briefly drawn level with Neville during the World Cup.

Neville briefly took over the England captaincy during this game after the substitution of David Beckham due to an injury shortly after half-time, despite the previous match's deputy captain John Terry also being on the field.

After the defeat to Portugal, Neville announced that he would continue to be available for selection for his country under new coach Steve McClaren and added that, unlike some former international teammates, he would not ever make the decision to retire from the England set-up, saying, "That decision is not Gary Neville's to make". As one of three club captains (along with Terry and Steven Gerrard) in the first-choice England line-up, he was mentioned as a contender for the England captaincy vacated by Beckham after elimination from the World Cup. However, Terry was given the job and Steven Gerrard made vice-captain.

On 11 October, Neville was involved in a game-changing incident during a Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia when his straightforward backpass took an unfortunate bounce and caused goalkeeper Paul Robinson to miss his kick, which resulted in the ball ending up in the net. Although Robinson was at the centre of the moment, Neville was officially credited with an own goal, the second of his England career; he has scored no goals for England.

On 7 February 2007, Neville won his 85th cap in England's 1–0 friendly defeat to Spain. His appearance took him to within one cap of equalling Sansom's record for an England full-back, and eighth in the all-time appearances list for his country. However, an ankle injury suffered on 17 March 2007 while playing for Manchester United robbed him of the chance to equal Sansom's record, as he was forced to miss the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra on 24 March and 28 respectively. Surgery on his ankle ruled him out of two summer matches at the new Wembley Stadium, and then a calf muscle injury delayed his recovery in the autumn. These injury problems together with a perceived decline in ability threatened to put an end to Neville's international playing career.

On 24 May 2009, Neville was given a surprise recall to the England squad by Fabio Capello for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra, but did not feature in any of these games.

Neville holds or co-holds a number of England records:

*When he came on as a substitute against Italy at Leeds in 2002, he earned his 51st cap, breaking the record for a right-back held previously by Phil Neal
*His 11 appearances for England in the European Championship finals (over three tournaments) is a record
*With his brother Phil, the Nevilles hold the record of England's most capped brothers, with 142 appearances between them. It was Phil's appearance as a substitute against Israel in 2007, a game for which Gary was injured, which broke a record they had jointly held with Jack and Bobby Charlton
*The Nevilles hold outright the record for the most appearances in the same England team by a pair of brothers with 31, although the 31st in 2007 came a whole seven years after the 30th

Neville wrote in his autobiography that, at times, he had reflected on his international career and thought sometimes that it was "a massive waste of time", and that success with United was "always the most important thing".

Style of play

An experienced and dedicated footballer, regarded as one of England's greatest right-backs, and as one of the best Premier League full-backs of his generation, Gary Neville was an aggressive, tenacious, and hard-tackling player, known for his work-rate, professionalism, determination, and consistency as a defender; due to his positional sense, he was also capable of playing as a centre-back on occasion. Although he was not the quickest, tallest, strongest, most talented or most technically gifted player, he was a reliable, traditional defensive-minded right-back, known in particular for his tactical intelligence and ability to read the game, as well as his stamina, work-ethic, authoritative presence on the pitch, and leadership, which enabled him to excel in this role; as such, he has been described as an "old-fashioned" defender, due to his combative playing style. During his career, Neville also formed a notable partnership with David Beckham down the right flank at Manchester United: he would often carry up the ball, lay it off to his teammate, and subsequently make overlapping runs to advance into more offensive positions, from which he could receive passes and deliver accurate crosses, providing an additional attacking threat to his team when Beckham was heavily marked. A vocal presence on the pitch and an opinionated dressing room personality, Neville also drew controversy throughout his career for his outspokenness and tendency to be involved in conflicts with opponents. His former manager, Ferguson, once described him as "the best English right-back of his generation".

Managerial career

England assistant manager

Neville, who holds UEFA Pro Coaching Licences, was appointed to the England senior team coaching staff by newly appointed manager Roy Hodgson on 14 May 2012 along with Ray Lewington and goalkeeping coach Dave Watson, signing a four-year contract with the FA. This saw him on the coaching team for Euro 2012, and was met with the backing of former England and Manchester United teammate David Beckham, who called his appointment a "shrewd move". Neville continued to work as assistant manager of England through the 2014 World Cup and subsequent Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

Valencia

Neville was appointed as head coach at Valencia in Spain on 2 December 2015. Neville's brother Phil had previously been caretaker manager and continued to work with his brother at the club; Neville also retained his England assistant coaching role while at Valencia. The decision to hire Neville was met with much surprise in Spain, due to his lack of prior experience, and as he was not fluent in Spanish. On 9 December, Neville managed his first game in charge of Valencia, suffering a 2–0 defeat against Lyon in the Champions League; as a result, Valencia crashed out of the tournament, finishing third in their group, and were relegated to the UEFA Europa League.

On 3 February 2016, Valencia lost 7–0 away to Barcelona in the first leg of the semi-final of the Copa del Rey. This came after the team had gone eight games without a victory in La Liga since Neville took over, leading to criticism from the press as well as the club's fans, who called for him to resign. A week later, Valencia were eliminated from the tournament after a 1–1 draw in the return leg.

Having started with a sequence of nine winless league matches, Valencia recorded their first win under Neville in a 2–1 victory at home against Espanyol on 13 February 2016. On 17 March, in the return leg of Valencia's UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie, Neville was sent off for protesting against Athletic Bilbao's goal to the officials; although Valencia won the match 2–1 at home, they were eliminated from the tournament on away goals, following a 2–2 draw on aggregate. On 30 March 2016, Neville was sacked by the club. At the time of his sacking, Valencia were 14th in the league, only six points clear of the relegation zone, and had won only three of their 16 league games under Neville, also failing to keep a single clean sheet.

Club ownership

In 2014, it was announced that Neville, along with fellow Manchester United legends Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, had agreed to a deal to purchase Salford City ahead of the 2014–15 season, with plans to get the club to The Football League. The group announced they would take part in a special friendly, with Salford facing a Class of '92 team. On 22 September, the group agreed to sell a 50% stake in the club to billionaire Peter Lim. Salford obtained promotion in their first season, as documented in the ''Class of 92'' television programme for the BBC
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