Shirty Gary in Liverpool top for bet
HE RELUCTANTLY WEARS IT FOR CHARITY
UNITED legend Gary Neville did the unthinkable and pulled on the shirt of bitter rivals – but it was all for a good cause.
Neville’s Sky Sports’ punditry partner Jamie Carragher forced Neville into the shirt after his former England teammate lost a bet between the pair.
On Sky’s Premier League Preview Show before the start of the season, Carragher beat Neville in a penalty shootout and chose the forfeit that his former England team-mate would have to wear the shirt of United’s hated rivals live on air.
Neville reluctantly agreed and donned the shirt, though he turned it round and put it on back to front so the club’s badge was facing away from him.
On the front was the name of new signing Xherdan Shaqiri who had written a personalised message on his number 23, saying: “To my no.1 fan Gary, please don’t track back – SORRY – please don’t backtrack on this bet.”
Neville was extremely critical of Shaqiri and his attitude towards defending during the World Cup, before Liverpool signed him from Stoke City for £13m.
However, Neville, a Treble winner with United and now a revered pundit and property magnate off screen, was quick to get his revenge on Carragher saying ‘I’ll wear that pile of!!! if you wear this,’ whipping out a United shirt with his name on the back.
He brought up a previous bet he and Carragher had apparently struck about former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho.
Carragher had apparently said that the Brazilian would score 15 goals in a season for Spurs, and seeing as he didn’t he accepted the forfeit of wearing a United shirt.
The shirts will now be auctioned off on the ex-players’ Twitter account for a charity of their choice, with Neville choosing the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s homelessness fund.
Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping in the city by 2020 and donates 15 per cent of his salary each month to the fund.
Carragher will donate the money from his shirt to the Fans Supporting Foodbanks project which both Liverpool and Everton fans have thrown their weight behind.