Gary Neville reveals ‘big problems’ behind sharing a room with Manchester United teammate David Beckham | OneFootball

Gary Neville says he and Manchester United teammate David Beckham clashed when the pair were forced to briefly share rooms while at the club.

After players graduated from the United academy they were put into pairs to stay in twin rooms on overnight trips, with the pair sharing for six months.

Although the two have been close friends for 30 years - with Neville the best man at Beckham’s wedding - their room-sharing experience was less than harmonious.

Neville told Sky Sports: “I roomed with David Beckham for about six months and then the whole rooming with players completely stopped because everybody went into their own individual rooms.

“I think they worked out that players weren’t compatible with each other and that each went to bed at different times. I had two big problems with Becks - well, he had with me!

open image in gallery

David Beckham and Gary Neville won six Premier League titles together (AFP/Getty Images)

“I used to go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 5am, he would stay up until 11pm and want to wake up at 8am, so essentially he was keeping me up from 9 until 11 and then I was getting him up at 5 in the morning, so it just wasn’t working at all.”

Neville added that the pair clashed over keeping the room tidy, saying: “Secondly, he is the cleanest person.

“He gets into his room, he lights candles, he puts pictures up – everything has to be absolutely perfect, it’s been the same since he was 18. I just throw everything everywhere, so it just did not work at all.

“I’m always talking, always arguing and he was the complete opposite of that. He would listen to music, he would want peace, he would want to be chilled and it’s just the complete opposite end of the spectrum of where I was at.”

Fortunately the room-sharing experiment was short-lived and the pair enjoyed more success on the pitch than domestically, winning six Premier League titles together.