Dirty work, but United boys love it
THE song drifting across the lorry container changing rooms and the tiny wooden tea bar is the same one they play before games at Old Trafford.
Ewan MacColl’s folk classic Dirty Old Town is a poignant love letter to the gritty city of Salford. Behind a low concrete wall at Moor Lane, on a bleak Bank Holiday afternoon, Phil Neville and the rest of Manchester United’s venerated Class of 92 were paying their own unique homage to the place that made them into some of the nation’s most celebrated footballers.
Salford City beat Droylsden 2-1 in the Northern Premier League Division One North on Monday. For Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, a labour of love reaching back into their own beginnings received its latest satisfying reward.
Along with Gary Neville, the former idols of Old Trafford have bought the club nearest to the vast stadium where they won so often so they can reconnect with where they came from.
“All of us played on this pitch when we were kids,” said Phil as his kids and the Scholes and Butt families played nearby.
“We wanted to go back to our roots. Where did it all start? Salford. So let’s go back. Let’s give something back and give a legacy to Salford City. Let’s repay what we were given when we were growing up. This is like going back to our childhoods. It’s sandwiches in the bar. It’s brilliant.
“The vision is to go as high as we can. I’d be lying if I said we don’t think about maybe getting to the Football League. That’s the dream.
“But whatever happens, it has been brilliant, the reception we’ve had here. I stood in that little shed over there with the Scarborough fans the other week and the banter was great. It has humbled us. Now we just want to give our best back to it.”
At half-time, a gently mocking chant arose from the small knot of Droylsden followers in that small shed. “Class of 92 – you’re having a laugh.” Neville smiled.
It was the reunion of these Fergie Fledglings, when they told their life stories in their Class of 92 DVD, which led to them to purchase the club.
“We all came up through Salford,” he said. “Believe it or not, Nevile Road runs alongside the ground. There is a Butt Road just around the corner. And a Scholes Avenue.”
After four wins, Salford are top of the league. The irony for a group of players who achieved so much professionally is that back in the big time, things smoothly.
Giggs, No 2 to United’s new boss Louis van Gaal, was in the dugout during the 4-0 defeat by MK Dons. Gary Neville must attempt to rebuild England’s shattered morale after the World Cup failure. Phil Neville’s own spell as assistant to David Moyes last season was painfully brief.
He is now a Match of the Day pundit and is immersing himself in grassroots coaching with Salford and, this past week, the England under-17 team.
“Take out the results at United and the fact the manager got the sack at the end of the season, and I’d still say last year was the best year of my life, coaching-wise,” he said.
“Working with great players, it’s what I always wanted. But I went straight from playing into coaching at United. I need to get back into the trenches. Here, I can hone my skills in an environment where we don’t have to beat Arsenal on Saturday.”
There is a manager, of course. The United quintet bow to Phil Power’s vast knowledge and experience of the non-league game. As a lifelong United fan, he still marvels at the fact the Nevilles and Scholes turn up to train on wet Tuesday nights.
The new arrivals have altered Salford’s colours from tangerine and black to United red and white.
“They have a core of support who are really passionate,” added Neville. “We had to be sensitive. We didn’t just want to swan in as a load of big-timers.
“The manager has been around these leagues a long time. Me and Gary say to him stuff like, ‘You’ve got games on Saturday and Monday. Should you change some of the team, Fergie-style?’ He said no – ‘in this league, you’ve got to get your wins on the board’.
“It’s natural it would come into our heads – what would Fergie do? We have to change our thinking. Phil is right. He knows about this league.
“But we have implanted some of our professional knowledge. We are drilling them about nutrition and sports science. No other team in the league has a sports scientist.
“This is the backbone of everything we are all going to do now. This will always be here. This is what us lads see being involved in for the next 20 years. This is our legacy.”
One day, the Dirty Old Town may have its own local derby. In the big
time.
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