This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gwernol (talk | contribs) at 22:37, 4 December 2006 (Revert vandalism). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 22:37, 4 December 2006 by Gwernol (talk | contribs) (Revert vandalism)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| 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 15 October 2006 | |||
Gary Alexander Neville (born February 18, 1975 in Bury, Greater Manchester) is an English footballer who is England's most capped right full back, and also Manchester United's club captain.
Gary started his career at Old Trafford as a central defender, but was later converted into a full back because it was felt he may have been too short to play centrally. He made his international debut in 1995 and has been first choice right back for club and country for now more than ten years.
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. Their father, the idiosyncratically-named Neville Neville, worked in the commercial side of football, including a long spell at Bury in the 1990s when his sons rose to fame.
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 for England in Portugal. 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.
Club
Gary made his senior debut for Manchester United, his only club, in 1992 against Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup (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 became a regular choice at right back in 1994 and has stayed there ever since. 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 (who have won 18 league titles, compared to Man USA's paltry 14, and are Englands most recent Champions League winners, winning the cup in 2005 in a thrilling game in which they came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to win on penalties) 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 who blamed him for disturbances between fans after the game. He was subsequently charged with improper conduct by the Football Association which he contested 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.
Thus far, Gary has won six Premiership titles, three FA Cups, one European Cup and one League Cup, the last of which was his first trophy as captain.
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 five different coaches. He was the only player above 30 years of age to be selected in Steve McClaren's first squad with the omission of David Beckham, David James, and Sol Campbell. Gary and his brother Phil are the only remaining players in the England squad from Euro 96.
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 (primarily because England have no other recognised Right BAcks worthy of representing Sam Marino let alone England), 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 was mentioned as a contender for the England captaincy which Beckham vacated after elimination from the World Cup. However, he was clearly an outsider and Terry was duly given the job.
On October 11, Neville was involved in a game-changing incident during a Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia when his straightforward backpass took a unfortunate bounce and caused goalkeeper Paul Robinson to miss his kick, which resulted in the ball ending up in the net. Although Robinson was at the centre of the moment, Neville had to be officially credited with an own goal, the second of his England career. The same game earned Neville his 84th cap, taking him level with Ray Wilkins at joint-eighth in the all-time list.
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 and also on They Think It's All Over.
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 indiscretion, 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
- England-Expects.org Gary Neville Player Profile
- Gary Neville career stats at Soccerbase
- Gary Neville Player Profile from Carling
- Gary Neville Useful Links ManUtdPlayers.co.uk
Trivia
Gary makes regular appearances for IMUSA - the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association.
The name tag on his shirt still reads as "G. Neville", even after his brother Phil left Manchester United.
| England squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| England squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Manchester United F.C. – current squad | |
|---|---|
|
- 1975 births
- Living people
- English footballers
- England international footballers
- England under-21 international footballers
- FA Premier League players
- Current FA Premier League players
- Manchester United F.C. players
- UEFA Euro 1996 players
- FIFA World Cup 1998 players
- UEFA Euro 2000 players
- UEFA Euro 2004 players
- FIFA World Cup 2006 players
- People from Bury