Gary Neville admits he wanted ‘disgraceful’ Man Utd relegated for ‘absolute crime’

Gary Neville during his role as a Sky Sports pundit

Man Utd legend Gary Neville admits the Red Devils and the five other clubs “who were willing to destroy the game in this country” over the European Super League should have been relegated.

English football’s co-called ‘big six’ – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd and Tottenham – were founder members of the original Super League project in April 2021 but quickly withdrew amid fan protests and pressure from the football authorities and the British Government.

Neville: The Glazers ‘were willing to destroy the game’ in England

All six publicly distanced themselves from efforts to launch a new competition in the wake of a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on December 21, but Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 which promotes the Super League concept, insists English clubs have been involved in dialogue with his organisation since then.

Asked directly whether there had been conversations with Premier League teams since the ECJ ruling, Reichart told the Press Association earlier this month: “Yes of course. It’s absolutely a logical and natural process.

“Everyone is trying to get a sense of what the ruling could mean, it’s the professional obligation of clubs to know what this change in club governance in Europe could mean for them.

“It’s a great opportunity, why shouldn’t everybody have a look at it neutrally and decide what’s best for their clubs, their members and their fans? We are aware that clubs all over Europe are currently involved in that process and we try to assist them and help them.”

Neville rarely showed his displeasure at the Glazer family, who own Man Utd, before the announcement of the European Super League idea and claims he wanted the Red Devils and every other club involved relegated from the top tier.

“I properly started to unload on the Glazers post-Super League. Before that, believe it or not, my actual criticism of them was either little or next to nothing, United fans will know that,” Neville explained on The Overlap.

“Those six owners who were willing to destroy the game in this country and around Europe, they’ve been let off scot-free. It’s disgraceful that they’ve been let off scot-free; it really is.

“They get fined £3m quid each, they should have been knocked out of the league, the lot of them. What they did was an absolute crime.”