Gary Neville leaves Birmingham City’s Tom Brady confused with ‘bladdered’ remark | OneFootball

The Blues and Salford co-owners have been in conversation this week

Gary Neville and Tom Brady are two of the EFL's most high-profile investors at this moment in time, and the duo have been in conversation this week amid the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Indeed, the retired sporting icons are now co-owners of Birmingham City in the Championship and Salford City of League Two at this moment in time, with both clubs catching the eye in many parts of the world as a result.

Blues are looking to progress back to the Premier League as soon as possible under their American investors, Knighthead Capital Management, who took control at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park three summers ago following the tumultuous ownership of Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, before completing a full takeover of the West Midlands outfit in November of last year.

During the past three years, Brady has linked up with majority owner, Tom Wagner, to help increase the stature of the club, as well as spreading across his winning mentality to the squad in B9 under the management of Chris Davies, having been known as the 'GOAT' (greatest of all time) through his seven NFL Super Bowl victories - six of which came with the New England Patriots between 2002 and 2019.

Neville, meanwhile, has been heavily involved in developments with the Ammies since they were a non-league side, but under a new investment consortium last summer, plugged new funds into the coffers at the Peninsula Stadium alongside former England and Manchester United teammate, David Beckham.

However, the North West side were unable to achieve a first-ever promotion to League One through the play-offs, losing 3-0 to Notts County at Wembley last month.

Gary Neville confuses Tom Brady through 'bladdered' remark amid Super Bowl chat

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That said, the Mancunian is now a part of ITV's coverage of the World Cup alongside Ian Wright and Roy Keane, and all three have been in conversation with the 48-year-old, who won his last Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seven years ago.

However, his first title came 24 years ago with the Patriots, who defeated the Los Angeles Rams at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans in February 2002.

Given his high-profile status within the NFL or global sport as a whole, the man who now owns 3.3% of Blues previously admitted to falling asleep less than one hour before kick-off, after the warm-up was finished.

Neville, on the Stick to Football podcast, then quizzed Wright and Keane to see whether they believed it was a true story.

"It's a strange thing to say, so I'm going to say that it's true," responded Keane. "He'll spin it that he was having a power nap.

"I don't have him falling asleep," said Neville. "It doesn't feel like he falls asleep.

"For all he said the last hour and a half he was out the night before.

"He was bladdered!," joked the former United captain, to which Brady said: "What do you call that?

After being told it meant to be 'drunk', the Blues co-owner added, "I love you Brits!

"You have the best words. I mean, your words are unbelievable. I don't know what the hell they mean!

When asked if the story was true, the former quarterback revealed: "I did (fall asleep)!"

"Right in front of my locker. There was a long pregame show because it was the year of 9/11. We warmed up early, and we came (back) in.

"I was like, 'I'm going to lay down, and I fell asleep for a power nap."

Tom Brady has immersed himself in UK culture through Birmingham City

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Although Brady, naturally, is still unaware of some UK-based phrases, the American has certainly immersed himself into UK culture, and a lot of that has come through his involvement with Birmingham.

This, of course, can be seen first-hand through the Amazon Prime docuseries which charted the club's relegation to League One in 2023/24 and record-breaking promotion of 2024/25, of which he is at the front and centre of.

He was also a key figure in the unveiling of the upcoming 62,000-seater Powerhouse stadium, and has even jetted in for some major matches during his time as Advisory Board Chairman.