Gary Neville
| File:Gary nev.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Alexander Neville | ||
| Position(s) | Right Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Manchester United | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 July 2006 | |||
Gary Alexander Neville (born February 18, 1975 in Bury, Lancashire) is an English footballer who is England's most capped right full back, and also Manchester United's club captain. He is one of only four players to have appeared in the UEFA Champions League 100 times. He started his career at Old Trafford as a central defender. He was later converted into a full back because it was felt he may have been too short to play centrally.
Personal
Gary is from a sporting family; his younger brother Philip Neville is also a footballer and their sister Tracey Neville has represented England at netball. Gary was also a talented cricketer in his teens; he played for the Bolton Cricket League and his biggest achievement was his partnership with Matthew Hayden when he scored 109 in 1992. Gary's father is Neville Neville.
Gary and Phil Neville were team-mates at both club and international level all their careers until Phil joined Everton in 2005. Indeed, they play the same position and therefore often found themselves as rivals for a place in the Manchester United side.
He has been engaged to 26-year-old Emma Hadfield for three years. In August 2004 The Sun tabloid accused her of cheating on Gary while he was playing in Portugal on behalf of England. She demanded an immediate retraction and, when refused, began legal proceedings against the paper. In May 2005 the two parties settled out of court, with the Sun issuing a correction and paying Ms. Hadfield ₤75,000.[1]
Club
Gary made his senior debut for Manchester United, his only club, in 1994 (having joined as a schoolboy in 1991). Gary emerged as part of Alex Ferguson's phenomenal youth oriented fledgling side of the 1990s (nicknamed Fergie's Fledglings; an updated take on the 1950s equivalent, the Busby Babes) that included his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. He has stayed there ever since, and, in the summer of 2004, signed a four year contract with Manchester United and seems now destined to spend his entire playing career there.
In December 2005, Gary was appointed the new captain of Manchester United, following Roy Keane's departure.
In January 2006, his actions were the subject of some controversy after his celebration in front of the visiting Liverpool fans at Old Trafford, when he was seen to run from the half-way line towards the opposing fans to celebrate the 90th minute injury-time winning-goal header by United defender Rio Ferdinand. His actions were criticised by Liverpool player Jamie Carragher, sections of the media and even the police - the latter blaming him for disturbances between fans after the game. He was subsequently charged with improper conduct by the Football Association and he contested the charge, asking if it was preferable for players to act like "robots" and show no emotions. He was fined £5,000 with a warning about his future conduct.
In March 2006, Gary made his 500th senior appearance for Manchester United in a Premiership match against Birmingham City - only the eleventh player to do so. In interviews conducted to mark this achievement, Gary declared his wish to keep playing for Manchester United until the age of 39.
Country
Neville made his first appearance for England in 1995 when he was picked by Terry Venables for the friendly against Japan. He has been the first choice right back for his country ever since, playing for four different coaches.
When he came on as a substitute against Italy at Leeds in 2002, he earned his 51st cap, breaking the record for a right back held by Phil Neal. He also holds the record for the most appearances by an outfield player without having scored a goal for the England team.
Neville is considered a good candidate, injury permitting, to achieve 100 appearances for England; or, at the very least, become his country's most capped full back overall - Kenny Sansom, the former Crystal Palace and Arsenal left back, currently holds that honour with 86 caps.
He had been the youngest first choice player in the England first team during (edit conflict × 96), his first tournament, playing in each game until the semi-final, when he was suspended. He also played in the
and Template:Ec2. A broken foot put paid to his hopes of playing the
, but he quickly returned to the side after regaining his fitness, and was once again the first choice right back by the time of Template:Ec2.
Gary missed the latter stages of the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup with injury. He returned to the England team in March 2006 for a friendly against Uruguay.
As expected, Neville was selected for England's 2006 World Cup squad. He played in his normal position of right fullback in England's opening Group B game against Paraguay. However, Neville pulled his calf in training the night before the team's second game against Trinidad & Tobago. He was forced to miss that game, the team's final group game against Sweden, and England's round of sixteen game against Ecuador.
He returned to training on June 27, and played the full match, including extra time, in England's losing quarter-final against Portugal on July 1. It was his 81st England cap, taking him a clear ninth in the all-time rankings, ahead of Gary Lineker and team-mate Michael Owen, who had briefly drawn level with Neville during the World Cup.
Neville also took over the England captaincy during this game after the substitution of David Beckham due to an injury shortly after half-time, despite the previous match's deputy captain John Terry also being on the field.
After the defeat to Portugal, Neville announced that he would continue to be available for selection for his country under new coach Steve McClaren and added that, unlike some former international team-mates, he would not ever make the decision to retire from the England set-up, stating: "That decision is not Gary Neville's to make". As one of three club captains (along with Terry and Steven Gerrard) in the first choice England line-up, he has been mentioned as a contender for the England captaincy which Beckham vacated after elimination from the World Cup. However, he is unlikely to get the job due to his age.
Media
The elder Neville brother is sometimes criticised by football fans for his supposedly underwhelming displays, but he is more often heralded by football observers who see a competent, experienced defender who can lead teams from the back. He is also useful joining the attack - David Beckham has spent most of his career with Gary playing close behind him in support, which he has said acts as a great reassurance. The two are best friends - Gary was the best man when David married Spice Girl Victoria Adams. This friendship has often been ridiculed in the satirical cartoon sketch show 2DTV.
Gary has a reputation as a "union" figure within the England camp - he was allegedly the ringleader of an idea to boycott an important Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey in support of team-mate Rio Ferdinand who had been issued with a ban for missing a drugs test. The strike never occurred and the match went ahead. He was believed to be behind a similar player protest in support of Alan Smith, after the striker was dropped from the England squad because of an alleged off-the-field discretion, later proven to be untrue. Gary was also thought to be the chief instigator of the England players' snub of the British press and media after a match. These incidents have led to Gary being lampooned in the tabloid press, occasionally dubbed "Red Nev" or "Citizen Neville" (after Citizen Smith). In one paper, Neville's face was superimposed onto the iconic image of Che Guevara.
In 2005, Gary prompted another debate in the aftermath of an England game against the Netherlands, which had been used to promote the "Let's kick racism out of football" campaign. Gary questioned whether certain corporate sponsors involved in the match believed in the cause enough to justify the publicity they received.
Gary has a long standing relationship with the Mediterranean island of Malta, he has been an official tourism ambassador since 2001 and works with Air Malta to promote the country which he has regularly visited since childhood. In return the Malta Tourism Authority and Air Malta sponsor the Gary Neville Soccer School on the island, which Gary tutors at every summer. Advertisements featuring the Man Utd star in Malta are currently running on one tram in Manchester featuring the slogan "This is one booking I'm looking forward to."
He writes a weekly column for The Times.
External links
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