Gary Neville is a Red (February 2011)

Last of a Dying Breed.

In a game played by a merry band of mercenaries, the ‘one club man’ is a dying breed. The messed up world of modern football, it seems, doesn’t allow for loyalty – and if the past month has taught us anything – it’s that you can never trust a footballer. One minute they are an epitome of badge kissing loyalty – the next they are leaving the club they so professed their love for with all the subtlety of a bank robber clutching a swag bag.

That’s why the concept of the ‘one club man’, alien to so many professionals, is to be cherished - because they are truly few and far between. Last week, Gary Neville’s retirement signalled the end of the road for one of the last remaining bastions of a saner game – a man completely tied to his profession and his football club.

Neville was a product of Manchester United’s famous youth cup winning team of ’92 – a peerless side containing David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt – and made his first team debut against Torpedo Moscow later the same year. What followed was a career which saw him amass 602 United appearances, eight League Titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups, a European Cup and the World Club Championship.

Neville remains England’s most capped full-back, and was the embodiment of Alex Ferguson’s and United’s philosophy. He expected the highest standards – he shared Ferguson’s relentless desire for success – and it was this desire to win, coupled with an insatiable love for his team which ensured ‘Red Nev’ was so worshipped by United fans, and vilified by those at Anfield and Maine Road. Never one to hold his tongue, Neville never made secret the fact that the feeling is entirely mutual. The vitriolic abuse hurled at him by United’s great rivals merely stoked Neville’s fire, his badge-clutching sprint to taunt Liverpool fans after Rio Ferdinand’s late winner in 2006 an example of the passion coursing through him – Neville, in essence, was a fan who was talented enough to be playing for his football club.

Hatred often blinkered opinion on Neville’s playing ability. An easy scapegoat in an England shirt, many discarded Neville as an average player who merely worked hard. They were wrong – Neville’s crossing paled only in comparison with that of David Beckham – his old mate he would forever be scampering past on the overlap – and with whom he formed a formidable right-wing partnership.

Love him or hate him, as most people do, every fan longs to have a Gary Neville in their team. Snarling, angry, passionate, intensely loyal and above all a quality player – ‘The best English right-back of his generation’ – as Sir Alex says.

Neville’s retirement suggests the ‘one club man’ is closer to extinction. There aren’t many left. As Neville walks away into Old Trafford history, only Giggs and Scholes – the final members of the matchless crop of ’92 – remain.