Gary Neville Biography
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. Gary started off 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.
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 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, emerging together 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 Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. Their father has the rather unusual name of Neville Neville and this gave rise to a popular chant among the Manchester United supporters to the tune of David Bowie's song, Rebel Rebel.
Gary made his senior debut for Manchester United, his only club, in 1994 (having joined as a schoolboy in 1991) and made his first appearance for England the following year 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, and by March 2006 he had played 78 times for England. 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.
Gary had been the youngest first choice player in the England first team during Euro 96, playing in each game until the semi-final, when he was suspended. He also played in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
A broken foot put paid to his hopes of playing the 2002 World Cup, but he quickly returned to the side after regaining his fitness, and was once again the first choice right back by the time of Euro 2004.
He has gained 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 Guevera.
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.
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 signed a four year contract with Manchester United in the summer of 2004 and seems now destined to spend his entire playing career there. He is also 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.
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."
In December 2005, Gary was appointed the new captain of Manchester United, following Roy Keane's departure. If fit, he will be England's first choice right back at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, despite missing the latter stages of the qualification campaign with injury. He returned to the England team in March 2006 for a friendly against Uruguay and won his 78th cap, putting him joint 11th in all the all-time list.
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 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 38.