GARY SETS SIGHTS ON FRESH GLORY
SALFORD City co-owner Gary Neville has lauded the work of manager Graham Alexander – and is eyeing up yet another promotion!
The former Manchester United and England defender became a part-owner of the Ammies in 2014 and has overseen four promotions in that time, including last season’s historic ascent into the Football League.
They’ve since climbed to 11th place in League Two – just three points off the play-offs – and the Sky Sports pundit hasn’t ruled out continuing their incredible rise at the first time of asking.
Neville and his fellow owners appointed Alexander as manager in May last year – a man with almost 1,000 first-team appearances for Scunthorpe, Luton, Preston, and Burnley.
The 48-year-old, who claimed the Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month award for October this week, achieved promotion into the Football League at the first attempt, beating AFC Fylde 3-0 in the National League play-off final last term, and Neville is happy with the progress the club has made under his guidance.
Progress
“Graham has been doing a great job during the 18 months he has been with us because the club has changed dramatically,” said Neville.
“We brought him in to help us through the transition of NonLeague football to the EFL and his experience combined with our belief should be enough to get us into a position where we can move the club forwards in the right direction.
“We are bedding into a new league where the standard is a lot higher but need a good run until Christmas to sort us out.
“Our job as owners is to make sure that we are successful each season and I haven’t given up hope of achieving that again this season yet.
“We are going to hit bumps along the way but why wouldn’t we?”
Despite the rapid growth and high-profile connections at Moor Lane, Neville is adamant that football there will always be accessible. The fact that standard admission remained £10 this season, with concessions £5, shows that
Neville and Co. genuinely mean it.
“We accept that we are seen as wealthy owners, but we take pride in the fact that our football is affordable to watch,” said the 44-year-old who owns the club alongside brother Phil, Paul
Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, who each have a ten per cent stake, and Singaporean business magnate Peter Lim, who owns the remaining 40 per cent.
“We are working on driving fans in, driving revenue up and being a successful club but we also want fans to enjoy match
days and be comfortable in an environment where they feel included.
“I remember when I was younger and I went to watch Manchester United. Nothing could beat the feeling of walking into Old Trafford, seeing the players, watching the game.
“I was disappointed if we lost but either way it was magic – you just couldn’t beat that feeling. That’s the way it should be.”
Despite family ties to Bury, it was always Manchester United for Neville and frequent childhood outings to Old Trafford paved the way for him to go on and make more than 600 appearances for the club.
Now with the cost of attending games increasing by as much as 31 per cent over the last five years, the former Red Devils skipper is questioning the accessibility of the sport he fell in love with as a young boy.
“When I think back to my own childhood when me, my dad and my brother would go to fixtures every week, it was that trip to the football that was my dream and my ideal,” said the eight-time Premier League winner.
“Families are not able to do that anymore and that is fundamentally wrong because often the football club is the heart of the community and we need to get back to that in essence.
“I have always thought the government needs to intervene in major issues in football because, ultimately, the game won’t monitor itself. We need to rebalance the equation a bit.”
● eToro, the global multi-asset investment platform and sponsor of six Premier League clubs, produced the eToro Fan Financial Statement in association with the KPMG Football Benchmark, to explore spending by match-going Premier League fans. Download the report at etorofc.com