DAVID BECKHAM and Gary Neville have completed a takeover of Salford City.
Neville clubbed together with other members of Manchester United’s famous Class of 92 to buy stakes in the club in 2014.
GettyGary Neville and David Beckham have completed a takeover of Salford City[/caption]
BBCThe Class of 92 invested in the club in 2014[/caption]
GettyThe ex-footballers came through the Manchester United academy together[/caption]
Beckham then joined the ownership team in 2019 when he purchased a ten per cent stake from majority shareholder Peter Lim.
But now Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes have relinquished their ownership.
Lim also departed in 2024, leaving Beckham and his best man Neville to seek fresh investment.
And they have found that in the shape of Declan Kelly, founder of US-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association – who will together co-chair Salford’s board of directors.
The new ownership group also includes four further businessmen plus an Indian sports technology company.
According to The Athletic, they have invested between £11million and £15m to bolster Salford’s infrastructure and sporting ambitions.
But the consortium are understood not to be taking on active daily roles in the club, with Beckham and Neville driving the operation and hoping to appoint a new chief executive.
Butt, Giggs, Scholes and Phil Neville, meanwhile, are expected to stay on in other non-stakeholder roles at Moor Lane.
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Salford enjoyed four promotions in five years once the ex-United stars initially bought in.
The 2024-25 season was their sixth consecutive campaign in League Two.
The Ammies finished eighth, missing out on a play-off spot by just one point.
It is said the celebrity owners are targeting two promotions to the Championship within the next five years.
Beckham, who also owns MLS outfit Inter Miami, told The Athletic: “I will be over every big decision that’s made and every little decision that’s made.
“That’s what my commitment is to Gary. It’s what my commitment is to the club.
“We’re definitely not doing it for a laugh and it’s also not for the romantic side of things.
“Yes, we care about the club — but we’re doing it to win. We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level.
“I always dream big so I’m always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League.
“But there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.
“The Championship is a league that we want to get in but it’s step by step. We want success very quickly but these things take time.
Salford City ownership group
David Beckham (ex-England captain, Man Utd legend, Inter Miami owner)
Gary Neville (ex-Man Utd and England right-back, Sky Sports pundit)
Declan Kelly (founder of US-based advisory firm Consello)
Lord Mervyn Davies (chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association)
Frank Ryan (co-chair, co-CEO, Americas Chair, DLA Piper)
Shravin Mittal (founder of Unbound and managing director of Bharti Global Ltd)
Nick Woodhouse (executive vice chairman, Authentic Brands Group)
Colin Ryan (chief strategy and corporate development officer, Qualcomm)
Dream Sports Group (Indian sports technology company)
“There’s a reason why we’re not going to be going up this year. So what is that reason? How do we solve it? And what do we need to put around the team, the manager and the club to ensure we have that success?
“But if we can do that, fast forward it and be up in the Championship, that’s what the dream would be.”
Beckham also explained why Salford means so much to him personally as it was where he lived when he moved to Manchester aged 15, where he trained at The Cliff, where he bought his first house and where he first lived with wife Victoria.
And he revealed he has taken motivation from the likes of fellow A-lister football club owners Tom Brady at Birmingham and Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at Wrexham, who both enjoyed promotion from League One this season.
Beckham added: “We’ve all been inspired by what Ryan Reynolds has been doing at Wrexham and I’m not saying this is why we’re doing it because it’s not.
“But I’ve spoken to Ryan about it so many times now and he said the feeling around the city, the feeling around the club, is so exceptional. That’s the kind of thing that we want to create.
“Tom Wagner and Tom Brady have done an incredible job with Birmingham. I went to a game a few months back and the atmosphere in the stadium was one of the best I’ve seen for a long time.
“That’s what we want to create. We want to create that community, add to the community and fan base we’ve already got — and then lift it.
“It’s not only growth on the field, which is what we care most about, but we want success. Because if we’re having success then we’re also having the opportunity to say, ‘Now we we’re going to invest, now we’re going to get a bigger stadium, now we’re going to get a bigger training facility and then it will go on.’ That is what we’re aiming for.
“We’re not going to turn around and say, ‘Okay, there’s a bunch of money, we have no plan but we have the money and now we’ll go and get the players’. That’s not how we work in business. It has to be sustainable.
“It has to be a real plan around the club because we want to be taken seriously on the field, firstly, and then on the business side. We don’t want to look stupid or make the mistakes that others have in the past.”
Beckham and Neville have been friends for decades – with the right-back even Becks’ best manGetty – Contributor
Beckham has taken inspiration from Wrexham owner Ryan ReynoldsGetty Images – Getty
GettyHe was impressed by what Tom Brady has done on and off the pitch at Birmingham[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
