David Beckham and Gary Neville want to take a League Two side to the dizzy heights of the Championship.
The former Manchester United pair, who won countless honours during their time at Old Trafford, have formed a new-look consortium and promise to inject fresh funds into the football club, with the hopes of securing two promotions in the EFL.
If you hadn’t already guessed by now, it is, of course, Salford City, who finished outside the play-off places by just one point in 2024/25, pipped by Chesterfield on the final day of the season.
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Gary Neville and David Beckham want to take Salford City higher than ever before
As confirmed by The Athletic earlier today, Beckham and Neville, along with five new owners, will form a new consortium to try and help Salford in their quest for promotion from England’s fourth tier.
Former involved parties, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes have relinquished their stakes, but will continue to occupy various positions at Moor Lane. Frank Ryan, Shravin Mittal, Nick Woodhouse, Colin Ryan and Dream Sports Group are all now part of the new make-up of the ownership group.
The newly formed ownership team are believed to have raised around $15-20million (£11-15million) to boost Salford’s sporting and infrastructural ambitions, with Karl Robinson still set to stay in charge.
Each member will hold a 5 per cent or 10 per cent stake, totalling 80 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent has been earmarked for additional partners who may wish to join the project further down the line.
“I will be over every big decision that’s made and every little decision that’s made,” Beckham told The Athletic during an exclusive interview. “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,” Beckham continued. “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.
“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.”
How have Salford City fared this season?
A slow start to the season saw Salford City win just one of their opening eight matches, before a solid run around the new-year period hinted they may be capable of making a play-off push.
The Ammies won six games in a row in December and through January, without conceding a single goal along the way.
But another up-and-down period soon followed, winning one of 12 from January 18 to March 11, and thus their season faltered.
Form picked up again to end the 2024/25 campaign, losing just one of their last 10 games in League Two, culminating in a 2-2 draw at already relegated Carlisle United. A win would have seen them take place in the play-offs via a 7th-placed finish.
