Manchester United legends Gary Neville and David Beckham have completed the takeover of League Two club Salford City.
Neville and Beckham were already part-owners of Salford alongside a host of their former United teammates including Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs.
The Athletic have now confirmed that Neville and Beckham have acquired shares from the other shareholders as part of a new consortium that has raised $15-20million to invest in Salford.
It’s understood Butt, Giggs and Scholes will continue to occupy various positions at the club despite relinquishing their shares.
David Ornstein notes that Beckham and Neville have joined forces with Declan Kelly, founder of U.S.-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association. Kelly and Davies will co-chair Salford’s board of directors.
Other members of the consortium group are Frank Ryan (Co-chair, co-CEO, Americas Chair, DLA Piper), Shravin Mittal (founder of Unbound), Nick Woodhouse (executive vice chairman, Authentic Brands Group), Colin Ryan (founder, Clipper Street Capital) and Dream Sports Group (Indian sports technology company).
Speaking to The Athletic, Beckham said, “I will be over every big decision that’s made and every little decision that’s made. 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. The Championship is a league that we want to get in but it’s step by step. We want success very quickly but these things take time.”
Beckham added, “There’s a reason why we’re not going to be going up this year. So what is that reason? How do we solve it? And what do we need to put around the team, the manager and the club to ensure we have that success? But if we can do that, fast forward it and be up in the Championship, that’s what the dream would be.”
Beckham admitted that they are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Reynolds, who has enjoyed great success with Wrexham.
“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.”
“Tom Wagner and Tom Brady have done an incredible job with Birmingham. I went to a game a few months back and the atmosphere in the stadium was one of the best I’ve seen for a long time. That’s what we want to create. We want to create that community, add to the community and fan base we’ve already got — and then lift it.”
“When you see what the Toms are doing, there is investment, there is a plan and it would be the dream to talk about the growth of Salford City.”
Neville told Ornstein that their plan is to increase commercial income in order to boost overall revenues. He stressed the importance of exploring new ventures beyond just producing documentary series.
The former defender said they see themselves as guardians of the club and want to make sure fans have a strong voice in how Salford is run.
Salford City concluded the 2024/25 League Two season just outside the play-off positions, finishing one place below the threshold under the management of Karl Robinson.
Feature image Rich Storry via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
