How much money Gary Neville & David Beckham raised to save Salford City | OneFootball

The former Manchester United duo hatched a plan to save Salford City following a change in ownership.

Gary Neville enlisted the help of global star David Beckham to raise significant funds to save Salford City amid a “scary” future outlook.

Various members of the Class of 92, including Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs had been involved in the original takeover of Salford in 2014, winning four promotions in five seasons, before landing in the Football League in 2019.

At that stage, Beckham and major investor Peter Lim joined the action, the latter – also owner of La Liga side Valencia – taking a 50 per cent stake.

But that stake was purchased by Neville last year, who quickly realised the scale of the problems facing him at the Peninsula Stadium, and called Beckham in for help.

Gary Neville and David Beckham raised a substantial sum to save Salford City

In a report from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Beckham revealed that he panicked when Neville first called him up regarding Salford's situation, knowing that action alone meant trouble.

“For him to say, ‘we need to sort this out’… He very rarely burdens me with anything, so I knew this was something we had to fix,” the Inter Miami owner revealed.

Beckham recalls that between $12m-$14m was needed to save the club, or else Neville feared their ownership breaking down into a “more skeletal project” which would have meant stripping everything back, or being placed in a multi-club operation, which Neville did not believe was suitable.

According to the former England captain, they had two years to generate that amount, but in just four or five months they smashed the goal, instead raising up to $40m.

How Manchester United pair brought in funds to the Peninsula Stadium

That figure, however, has not come solely from the former club and international teammates.

Businessmen Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies joined Neville and Beckham as the main drivers of the new era at the Peninsula, but in total the four brought together a pool of 23 investors to raise the funds, plus big partners like Coca-Cola.

Having met Neville at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and Beckham earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kelly, a childhood United fan, hatched a plan.

“I said ‘I’m going to raise the capital’ and I think they thought I was joking,” Kelly told The Athletic. “The following day they realised I wasn’t.

“Mervyn and I went out and raised the money. If we needed to go out and raise more money, we could do it in a heartbeat.”

All eyes are now on Karl Robinson to get Salford City moving in right direction

With the club’s financial future sturdily secured off the pitch, attention will now turn to manager Karl Robinson on it.

Having put the club on such a secure financial footing, the new ownership club has lofty ambitions, the headline aim being reaching the Championship in five years.

The Ammies have remained static in the fourth tier since their promotion in 2019, so that is a punchy target for Robinson, but he’s started the season well with commendable wins against the likes of Notts County.

In the short term, however, Neville will just be relieved he has managed to save the club that he has built such a strong connection to over the past decade.