Gary Neville has revealed what his future plans are with David Beckham for Salford City in the coming years. Beckham and Neville led a consortium that acquired control of the League Two club in early May, buying out the shares of other legendary footballers from the notorious “Class of 92” – Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville.
Now, the television analyst from “Sky Sports” explained what they plan to do over the next five years and how they differ from the models of Wrexham (owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) and Birmingham City (in which NFL legend Tom Brady is a minority investor).
“Shares in a football club, for most owners, apart from the passion and emotion they put in, are more of a liability than an asset. We put money into Salford and in January we decided we needed to bring in people we believed in. We knew we would never own a majority stake in the club. What Peter Lim did for us was he gave us control but he put in the majority of the capital. He had 40% and he gave us 10%. Beckham and I agreed to put in another 4-5 years – "It's a commitment we've all made," Neville told The Overlap Fan Debate podcast, adding: "Salford City are not going to change their budget - it takes two or three years to get out of the current model. You can't just go from an investment model to a sustainable model - you have to look at the players' contracts, which are usually for three years. The model has to change - and a lot. It's very different to Wrexham and Birmingham - they're pouring millions in. We don't want that with Salford. We want Salford to be a good football project." Beckham has previously said that the aim is for Salford to reach the Championship within five years, and this month the board has shown determination by releasing 17 players from the current squad. But reaching the second tier of English football will be extremely difficult and will require significant investment from Neville, Beckham and the consortium. Preparations for the new season have already begun, including incoming and outgoing transfers, as Salford aim to be promoted to League One by 2026.