Class of ‘92 realise Football League ambition

LONDON: It was on the hour mark that Gary Neville allowed himself an embrace with David Beckham and Nicky Butt amid euphoric celebrations in the area they’d assigned themselves high in the stand.

The third goal had just gone in at the time, sealing victory in a clash of sides owned by multimillionaires and assigning Salford City a small piece of history. They are the first team to reach the Football League with back-toback promotions.

No-one could say the stadium was bouncing. A partisan group of Salford fans made some serious noise but when the contestants are accelerating through the lower divisions with tycoons’ cash like these two, there is not a fan base befitting such a stage.

The attendance was 8,049. The previous lowest for the fixture in the 12 years it’s been held here was more than 16,000.

But that won’t concern Neville or the Class of ‘92 after their side — co-owned with Singaporean Peter Lim — wrapped up a fourth promotion in five years. When Salford manager Graham Alexander arrived to talk on Saturday night, he was asked if a fifth might now be expected.

“You kidding?” he replied. “If you don’t mind, I’ll delay the planning for at least 24 hours.”

Fylde owner — the rabid Brexiteer David Haythomthwaite — takes a more sanguine view on arriving in the Football League than on leaving the EU. His target year — 2022 — is even stitched into the team’s jerseys.

“It’s not easy,” Neville said, when it was all done and dusted. “You have a lot understanding of how tough it is and you have to make tough decisions. We’ve been really clinical at times over the last five years and sometimes you don’t like yourself for it.

“I don’t know how we’ve got out of this league. It’s an illogical league that is so competitive. But we got there in the end.”

There will need to be more spending for an assault on League Two next season, though a serious challenge will materialise if we know anything about Neville.

He was deep in conversation with co-owner Ryan Giggs and in full embrace with Lim by the end.