Neville was speaking to BBC Sport from Salford City’s Moor Lane ground a day after the League Two outfit announced a new ownership structure that will see only the 50-year-old and long-time friend David Beckham remain as minority shareholders from the famed ‘Class of 92’ who bought the club in 2014.
Salford announced themselves with a succession of fly-on-the-wall documentary series that charted their remarkable progress from the eighth tier of the English pyramid into the Football League.
It was a similar concept to the one employed more recently by Wrexham’s Hollywood owners.
Yet, while Salford have remained in League Two since 2019 and blew their latest chance of making the play-offs on 3 May when they failed to get the win they needed at already-relegated Carlisle, Wrexham have gone past them and are now celebrating promotion to the Championship.
Local rivals Stockport County have also surged past them, with Neville admitting Salford’s recent recruitment has not been good enough.
“We accept in the last five years, we have not achieved the success on the pitch we should have,” he said. “That is a fact.
“There is no getting away from that.”
It has become apparent that not only were ‘Class of 92’ members reaching the end of the investment they were prepared to make, Singapore businessman and Valencia owner Peter Lim was reaching the same conclusion.
Lim bankrolled the club through losses of £28m over the past 11 years, having determined the ‘Class of 92’ should be responsible for the operation of the Moor Lane outfit.
Knowing this season would be Lim’s last, Neville and Beckham have put together a consortium of nine prominent investors, across a range of industries, having been put off by initial talks over a potential takeover that left the England defender concerned about the reputational damage it might cause.
“This is a ‘protecting our reputation’ play,” Neville said.
“A potential multi-club partner came forward but I realised we were going to be used as a machine to pass players around.
“I thought ‘nah’ that is not for me. I am not going to watch Salford City for the next five years servicing other clubs with players.
“I felt like I was going to become a slave to another majority owner and have to do what they wanted me to do. I was going to be coming to this ground and almost feel like a stranger in my own house.
“I didn’t want that. I can’t feel like that at this point in my life.”
