Latest news with #ClassOf92
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Gary Neville reveals his and David Beckham's plans for Salford City - and what makes them different from Wrexham
Gary Neville has opened up on the plans he and David Beckham have for Salford City after completing their takeover of the club. Beckham and Neville led a new consortium that gained control of the League Two outfit earlier this month, buying out their former Class of 92 team-mates Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville after major backer Peter Lim stepped away from his ownership position last year. The Class of 92s arrival in 2014 had previously taken Salford from the Northern Premier League Division One North to the EFL in five years, but they have remained in League Two ever since - and finished eighth this season. Beckham and Neville will be joined in their ownership by Declan Kelly, founder of US-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association. The new group are targeting Championship football within five years. They have already made a splash, with Salford, who are managed by Karl Robinson, releasing 17 players in a brutal reshuffle after missing out on the play-offs. And, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville gave further insight on the plans he and Beckham have for the club. 'Shares in a football club for most owners, other than the passion and the feelings you get from it, you're a reliability from an investment perspective more than an asset, Neville said. 'We've put money into Salford and in January we just thought we needed to get a group of people involved, who we could trust. 'Me and Becks [David Beckham] agreed that we would put money in for the next four or five years, which is a commitment we've all made. 'Salford City won't be changing the budget – to reverse out of the model we already have, you need two or three years. 'You can't go from investing to becoming sustainable that quick – you need to look at players contracts for three years and you've generally got a model that you've built which you can't come away from.' A high profile ownership group is not new, with other examples like Wrexham and Birmingham prominent in the EFL over recent times. Wrexham have earned three successive promotions from the National League to the Championship under celebrity backers Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, while the Blues - where NFL icon Tom Brady is a minority owner - romped to the League One title this season and have ambitious plans for the future. However, Neville claimed his group would be different and also insisted that supporting the local community would be a key part of their aims. The Manchester United legend added: 'We just need to change the model of the club slightly, in fact quite a bit. It's very different than Wrexham and Birmingham [City] - you're talking about millions going into those clubs. 'That's not what we're looking to do with Salford. We want Salford to be a good football project. 'Salford City has the cheapest ticket prices in the EFL. On day one, I committed to the fans that we would be the most affordable and accessible football club. I'd rather go down than do that [be unsustainable].' Meanwhile, Neville has occasionally faced criticism for the lack of progress at Salford in recent times, with The Ammies having been stuck in League Two for the past six years. During that time, Salford have only qualified for the play-offs on one occasion, and they have never finished higher than seventh, yet Neville defended his record. 'The money we have spent on our football club [Salford City] we could have easily bought a League One club,' Neville explained. 'The reason we didn't is, we wanted to build a football club from scratch. They had 100 fans at the time. 'Every fan that comes to Salford we respect enormously but they are there because of the things that we've done in the last ten years, which is a great position for us as owners to be in. 'We can't be accused of lacking spirit, fight, or putting money where our mouths is. 'We can never be accused of that at Salford because we haven't got 10,000 fans that have been there for a long time that have an opinion that's based on history.'
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How Flick turned Barca's 'young musketeers' into champions
When former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen declared at the start of the 1995-96 Premier League season "You can't win anything with kids", Alex Ferguson's young Manchester United stars went on to prove him Class of '92 won the Premier League and FA Cup Double that season before establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the world - and many are now tipping Barcelona's 'young musketeers' to have a similar Flick's - predominantly - young braves were confirmed as La Liga champions with a 2-0 win at Espanyol on Thursday, having already won the Copa del Rey in the sheer bravado, fearlessness and almost reckless abandon that has taken Flick's side to the Double and within a heartbeat of the Champions League final has brought the smiles back - not just to Barcelona but to lovers of the beautiful football fans marvel at the impudent brilliance of Flick's talented youngsters, including 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, 18-year-old Pau Cubarsi and 22-year-old Pedri, some believe they could have a similar impact to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barca side from 2008 to 2011. Too much to ask? Only time will with their average age of 25 significantly the lowest in La Liga, financial issues at the club undoubtedly helped create the necessary platform for the club's youth to is easy to forget Barcelona were in dire financial straits. Forget signing big-money players - the club, for a long while, were not even able to register the ones they it is more than just the harnessing of youthful genius that has brought the good times back to Barcelona. So how has Flick worked his magic? When former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Flick arrived at Barcelona, he found a number of players were performing well below stars like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong were low in confidence, simply because of the lack of trust they felt they had from their previous coach, would rarely play more than 60 minutes before being replaced, while Lewandowski was made to play with his back to goal in a style alien to addition, none of the three felt particularly welcome at the club with De Jong rightly convinced that Barcelona wanted to sell him to help alleviate their financial of the first things Flick did was to tell the three of them how important they were to his plans. This season Lewandowski is top scorer with 25 goals, while Raphinha has a league tally of also sensed an established culture where the club's irrepressible youth was not at the heart of the team, and not given the prominence they believed they had been given their debuts because of financial constraints - and Xavi deserves praise for working under such restrictions - but they wanted more. They wanted to take over the approach allowed the likes of Gavi, Yamal, Alejandro Balde (21), and Marc Casado (also 21) to do just that. He helped them find their voices, even going as far as allowing them to pick the dressing-room trust was repaid a hundred times over and reflected on the pitch with a youthful and carefree - some might even say naive - style of also always remained very close to those who didn't play regularly, stressing that with the inevitable injuries all clubs have to face, their time would has asked the club for very little so far, paying money for just Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in the summer and adding no-one in the winter transfer 60-year-old German also strongly believes no-one knows their fitness better than the players themselves. So, any plans to rest the likes of Yamal or Raphinha are not taken without asking them - again building the trust and his popularity among the also never allows himself to be influenced by the very powerful and demanding Barcelona media, and has remained honest to his players - an approach severely tested when they lost four games and collected just five points out of a possible 21 before the Christmas break. 'Flick's treatment of Lamine has been done with care' Flick has had to learn along the way. With De Jong and Olmo starting, he discovered what he believes is his best XI in that heart-stopping 5-4 win in January against Benfica in the Champions League first a crazy night in Lisbon, Flick really discovered the importance of Raphinha who showed how much of a leader he could be to everyone at the club once he had been given his regular place in the also very soon identified his need for a leader at the back, and saw what he was looking for in Inigo knew he was going to have to ask him to do what he hadn't ever done before in a defensive context, namely marshal an extremely high 33-year-old Martinez would be the first to admit he is not the quickest player, and has previously always played from a much deeper knew the high press would expose him, but the Spain centre-back has done his bit by being super-demanding of everyone under his charge and playing to his coach's instructions - as alien as it seemed to him at treatment of the brilliant Yamal is done with the most teenager wants to play in everything and wants every ball to go via him. He wants to win every man of the match and to be the focus of now and again, Flick reminds him who is in charge and that, if he doesn't do what he has to - mostly without the ball - he will be far so good, with Yamal recovering more balls than the Barcelona centre-backs and even Pedri - the best midfielder recovering the ball in Spain - in this month's Clasico win against Real the single most important factor to Barcelona's success is that through the leadership of players like Yamal, Raphinha and De Jong, everyone in the side thinks as produces the plan, but it is this highly motivated Barcelona side that provide the passion. The manager may well be the general, but they are all his soldiers. Punctuality and club attire - Flick's obsessions The manager is not without his obsessions, the most notable being punctuality. Three times this season defender Jules Kounde has been left on the bench for being late for Inaki Pena also found himself benched for Barcelona's Supercopa de Espana semi-final victory over Athletic Club when he arrived late for a team designer clothes much loved by footballing superstars are also a thing of the past under Flick. Now everyone, directors included, turns up to away matches in club a personal note, Flick arrived at Barcelona pain-free for the first time in years after having a hip felt liberated, less moody, and able to focus totally on the job in hand. He was finally able to enjoy his life without having to negotiate the constant nagging pain that he had been enduring for so knows better than anyone, though, that this Barcelona side are still a long way from being the finished goals conceded over 14 games in the Champions League, and ultimately a failure to make it to the final, is proof of knows the game they play is a risky one, although they have shown time and again this season they are usually capable of coming target for next season is to add control of games to the blisteringly exciting attacking prowess that has seen them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat so many that, needless to say, will come with Flick at the the end of this campaign he will have just one year left on his contract, and while he will certainly have no problems in renewing it, he will not be interested in signing any kind of long-term deal.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
I dream big – David Beckham and Gary Neville head consortium buying Salford
David Beckham is targeting the Premier League with Salford after he and Gary Neville became part of a new ownership group at the League Two club. The former Manchester United stars are members of a consortium which also includes a US-based businessman, Declan Kelly, and Lord Mervyn Davies, and will take control with immediate effect. 'I will be over every big decision that's made and every little decision that's made,' Beckham told The Athletic. 'That's what my commitment is to Gary. It's what my commitment is to the club. 'We're definitely not doing it for a laugh and it's also not for the romantic side of things. Yes, we care about the club — but we're doing it to win. We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level. 'I always dream big so I'm always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there's a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.' Beckham first invested in Salford in January 2019, joining former 'Class of 92' team-mates Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt as a shareholder. Gary Neville bought out the stake of former co-owner Peter Lim last August. The club confirmed on Thursday that Phil Neville, Scholes, Giggs and Butt were no longer shareholders but would still be contributing 'with roles in the club across technical, football, commercial, recruitment and the SCFC foundation'. Kelly and Davies will serve as co-chairs on the club's board. The club said the acquisition includes 'a commitment by the new shareholders to invest significantly in the club, the team and its facilities'. Salford missed out on the League Two play-offs by a single point, so will again play in English football's fourth tier next season. Kelly and Davies said in a joint statement: 'We have been close friends and partners for more than a decade and we look forward to partnering with David, Gary, this phenomenal new ownership group, the Class of '92 and everyone at SCFC to take this project to the next level and hopefully bring more success to Salford City's wonderful fan base, players and everyone associated with the club.' An advisory and investment firm, Consello, will lead the club's commercial strategy, with the club said to be 'looking forward to bringing on a series of commercial partners across the UK, US, Europe, and Asia'. Salford hope they can follow Wrexham's lead in attracting overseas interest and investment following the buyout of the Welsh club by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Since the takeover Wrexham have risen from the National League to the Championship, having achieved three successive promotions. Beckham added: 'We've all been inspired by what Ryan Reynolds has been doing at Wrexham and I'm not saying this is why we're doing it because it's not. 'But I've spoken to Ryan about it so many times now and he said the feeling around the city, the feeling around the club, is so exceptional. That's the kind of thing that we want to create.'
Arab News
08-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Beckham and Neville part of new ownership group at English soccer club Salford
LONDON: David Beckham and Gary Neville are part of a new consortium to have taken ownership of English fourth-tier soccer club Salford City. The club were previously owned by Beckham, Neville and other former Manchester United teammates in their so-called 'Class of '92' — Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville — along with Singapore businessman Peter Lim. A new ownership group, containing Beckham, Gary Neville and other shareholders from the United States, India and England, has bought Salford and have committed to 'invest significantly in the club, the team and their facilities,' Salford said on Thursday. Salford City announces that the Club has been acquired by a new ownership group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville, and includes US-based businessman Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies who will both serve as new Co-Chairs of the Club's board. — Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) May 8, 2025 Butt, Giggs, Scholes and Phil Neville are no longer shareholders but 'will continue to contribute to the next step of this journey with roles in the club,' Salford said. Beckham grew up in Salford and said he had 'such fond memories of my time living there and the place and its people played such an important part in my early life in football.' 'Salford City is at the heart of its community ... it has a rich history and I am delighted to be a part of the next chapter.' Beckham also is a co-owner of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Neville said the consortium contains 'a diverse range of minds and expertise, held together by a love of football.' 'Football will come first, however it's critical that we drive the club toward sustainability in the next four, five years,' Neville said. 'I can't wait for the next part of this journey.' Salford finished in eighth place — outside the playoff spots — in League Two this season. Beckham said he has been inspired by Wrexham's rise through English soccer under the ownership of Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since 2021. 'I'm not saying this is why we're doing it because it's not,' Beckham told The Athletic in an interview. 'But I've spoken to Ryan about it so many times now and he said the feeling around the city, the feeling around the club, is so exceptional. That's the kind of thing that we want to create.' Beckham added that the dream was to take Salford to the Premier League. 'But there's a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point,' he said.
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
David Beckham and Gary Neville complete Salford City consortium takeover
David Beckham and Gary Neville have completed a takeover of Salford City that will see their Class of '92 team-mates no longer shareholders in the League Two club. Beckham and Neville have teamed up with US-based businessman Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies, who have been appointed co-chairman, and nine new shareholders. The club announced that the deal 'includes a commitment by the new shareholders to invest significantly'. Previously the club was solely owned by Project 92 Limited, who listed Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes as directors along with former United team-mates Beckham and Neville. In a statement confirming the takeover, Salford outlined that Giggs, Phil Neville, Butt and Scholes will continue at the club in roles 'across technical, football, commercial, recruitment and the Salford City foundation'. The new structure of the club will see Kelly and Lord Davies chair the board, with nine shareholders. 'These shareholders have extensive experience working with many of the world's biggest companies and brands,' read Salford's statement. 'The membership group has been specifically constructed to include executives drawn from different backgrounds across finance, legal, media, tech and entertainment sectors to maximise the impact and contribution they can have on the Club moving forward.' Gary Neville said the takeover comes with the aim to move towards financial sustainability. 'I am passionate about Salford City,' he said. 'This is a unique partnership with a diverse range of minds and expertise, held together by a love of football. Football will come first, however, it's critical that we drive the Club towards sustainability in the next four to five years. I can't wait for the next part of this journey.' The takeover increases Beckham's involvement in football ownership in his post-playing career. The 50-year-old is also a co-owner of Inter Miami in America, with the team featuring Lionel Messi playing in the Club World Cup this summer. 'I grew up in Salford….I have such fond memories of my time living there and the place and its people played such an important part in my early life in football,' said Beckham. 'Salford City is at the heart of its community….it has a rich history and I am delighted to be a part of the next chapter.'
