Salford co-owner Gary Neville SKIPS club's biggest ever game away at Man City
League Two Salford City - owned by Manchester United's legendary Class of 92 - take on Manchester City in the FA Cup at The Etihad, with a number of the group opting to stay away
by Simon Mullock · The MirrorSalford City co-owner Gary Neville opted to miss the biggest game in his club’s history to go on holiday.
Neville, the former Manchester United defender who bought Salford with the rest of his Class of 92 team-mates almost 11 years ago, decided against watching the League Two team in their FA Cup third round tie at Manchester City.
Almost 5,500 Salford fans were at the Etihad - but Neville wasn’t one of them. Sources claim he instead decided to go on a skiing holiday.
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were in attendance. But Neville, his brother Phil and David Beckham decided not to watch Salford against the reigning Premier League champions.
Ryan Giggs was also at the Etihad, but rather than in a directors' box, the United legend was in the away side's dugout. The former Wales boss has been serving as Karl Robinson's assistant, as well as his responsibilities as the club's Director of Football.
And it only took eight minutes for Neville's decision to be partially vindicated as the four-time Premier League champions asserted their dominance to open the scoring through Jeremy Doku.
Speaking before the game, Robinson said: "We have found a way and found a system that suits the players we have. We have pulled together and made it difficult for the opposition in certain games - this will be a certain type of game."
And on their famous owners, he added: "We speak consistently. They are always there offering help and assistance.
"We don't waste them being there. It would be naive from us as staff and players if we didn't listen. Yes, they played at a higher level, but they can speak to players in League One and Two."
In August of last year, Gary became the club's majority shareholder, when he bought out the shares owned by Peter Lim, who also purchased the club back in 2014.
The former Red Devils skipper had also served as the club's CEO, before handing the reins over to Butt in 2022. He then served in that position for two years, until standing down himself in October of last year.
After skyrocketing through non-league, achieving four promotions in their first five years of stewardship. That saw them ascend to the EFL for the first time, but despite regularly being among League Two's biggest spenders, they have failed to take the next step.
However, under current boss Robinson, the Ammies are well placed for a promotion push, finding themselves occupying an automatic promotion spot at the halfway point of the season.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Sky Sports deal
Sky Sports launches discounted Premier League package
£46 (was £56)
Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.