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Gary Neville No guaranteed response Messages delivered but no guaranteed response

Date of Birth: Tuesday, February 18, 1975
Birth Place: England
Height: 180cm
Position: Defender

Biography

Gary Neville is a defender for England and Manchester United in the English Premier League. He can play in the centre of defence, where his experience helps him to read the game, but he is at his best when he plays at right-back, with some licence to roam up the wings. He is one of England’s most-capped players, although injuries kept him out of the first team for over two years in 2007.

Childhood

Gary Neville was born on 18th February 1975, in Bury, North Manchester. As a child he supported both Bury FC, where his father Neville Neville worked as general manager, and Manchester United. He spent much of his youth playing football with his younger brother, Phil, who also went on to play for Manchester United and England. At the age of 16, Gary left School, and there was only ever one destination for him in his heart – Manchester United.

Early Career

Having joined for United as soon as he had left School, Gary was played in the youth teams. He captained the 1996 youth team to success, and became best friends with Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham as the youngsters progressed from Man United hopefuls to genuine quality Man United players.

Current Club

Gary Neville made his debut for Manchester United in September 1992, in the UEFA Cup, but it was another two years before he had established himself as the first-team right-back. It was in 1995, at just 20 years old, that Gary Neville proved Alan Hansen wrong (“you cannot win anything with kids”) as United won the Premier League.

Gary has had a sensational Manchester United career, winning all sorts of trophies, including the Champions League – the most prestigious club championship in the world – twice. Eight Premier League titles and three FA Cups are testament to his ability.

As a youngster he could be seen bombing it up the wing past David Beckham to get crosses in, and though he now tends to hang back a bit more (allowing Patrice to dominate the left hand flank instead), he still has the speed and crossing ability to get it in the box when necessary.

After a season out through injury, Gary faces the uncertain battle of winning a place in the first team from Wes Brown and young Brazilian Rafael.

International

Gary Neville is in the top 10 most-capped England players of all-time, which isn’t bad given how he and his brother were derided for having a lack of skill and nous when they first entered the international scene. At Euro 96, Gary was the youngest member of the England squad, but played in each game until the unlucky Semi-final against Germany.

Gary has suffered (as has the rest of the nation) as expectations of glory are replaced by harsh lessons of reality – with England crashing out as ‘brave lions’ in France 98, failing to show up at France 98 and Euro 2000. Neville didn’t make it to Japan for World Cup 2002 because of injury, but was in the team that lost to Portugal in Euro 2004 (when Wayne Rooney first came to the attention of the rest of Europe).

Gary has not retired from international football, and has said he never will do. He faces competition from the likes of Wes Brown and Micah Richards for the right-back spot, with his age and lack of pace seeming to suggest he may have played his last game for the Three Lions.