The People鈥檚 Game: How to save football
By Gary Neville,
London: Hachette, 2023
293pp
Responding to news of a European Super League (ESL) breakaway that included English Premier League (EPL) clubs Manchester United (MU), Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, football commentator and former Manchester United player Gary Neville said 鈥淲e don鈥檛 like it, and we hope it doesn鈥檛 happen.鈥
Neville鈥檚 2023 book The People鈥檚 Game: How to save Football argues that beneath the glamourous sheen of the EPL, the game is rotten, and the growing influence of the biggest teams is harming the game, leaving fans out of pocket and smaller clubs clinging to survival.
The ESL breakaway attempt led to outrage from fans. Eight thousand Arsenal fans staged a protest outside the club鈥檚 Emirates Stadium on April 23, 2021, and MU fans later staged a pitch invasion on May 2, leading to the postponement of their fixture against Liverpool.
It was partly due to these protests that the 6 EPL clubs withdrew from the ESL, killing off the proposal.聽
Even though he had played more than 400 games for MU, Nevile was 鈥渁bsolutely disgusted鈥 with the move. 鈥淭hey pretend 鈥榊ou鈥檒l Never Walk Alone鈥, the people鈥檚 club, the fans鈥 club. Manchester United, one hundred years, born out of workers out here. And they鈥檙e breaking away to form a league without competition? That they can鈥檛 be relegated from.鈥
Neville鈥檚 concerns about the state of the game stem from his family鈥檚 involvement in county club Bury FC 鈥 from the club winning the Football Association (FA) cup in 1900 and 1903, through to it being placed into administration in 2020 after being expelled from the English Football League.
Neville also tackles sexism, racism and ownership in The People鈥檚 Game, recounting how in the early 1920s, the Dickie Kerr Ladies football team drew crowds of more than 50,000 to matches, and how on December 5, 1921, the FA council banned woman鈥檚 football clubs from using the grounds of FA-affiliated clubs. The ban wasn鈥檛 lifted until 1971.
A June 2022 fan survey found that after learning about the Dickie Kerr Ladies team, 71% of fans agreed that men鈥檚 professional football had an obligation to build the women鈥檚 game through means such as financial assistance.
Following the murder of George Floyd in the United States in 2020 by racist police and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists in Bristol removed the statue of former slave trader Edward Colston. At the time, many black football players began to speak about the racism they had experienced.
In response, Neville admitted that despite being a representative for the Players鈥 Union, he did not do enough to speak out against racism.
Neville is also critical of owners such as the Glazer family at MU and state-owned companies such as the City Football Limited Group and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which have the backing of regimes in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and are used to shield them from criticism over human rights abuses.
At MU, fans are angry that the Glazer family became majority owners in 2005 by taking out 拢525 million in loans against the club, which left MU 拢495m in debt by the end of 2021. Since then, the Glazers have paid themselves more than 拢1bn in interest, costs, fees and dividends from club funds.
Neville regrets not being more critical of the Glazer ownership during his playing days at MU. Since late 2023 the Glazer family have retained majority ownership at Old Trafford with the INEOS group聽鈥 headed by local industrialist Jim Ratcliffe 鈥 having a minority stake.
Neville outlines a seven-point plan聽to reform the game, including appointing an independent regulator, fairer financial redistribution of resources, a new licensing system for owners, greater financial stability to prevent leveraged buyouts and a fans鈥 charter.
Whether these reforms help make football more equitable is yet to be seen. Moreover, Neville鈥檚 criticisms are undermined by his ownership of Salford City FC and his belief in the system responsible for the game鈥檚 problems.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a socialist, I鈥檓 a capitalist. I believe in entrepreneurialism. I believe in companies making profit. I believe in lower taxes. And I also believe that distribution of profit should be spread amongst us.鈥
Despite previously supporting Jeremy Corbyn, Neville joined the Labour party in 2022 and supports Blairite Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The same year, Neville was a commentator for the media group beIN SPORTS during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, despite the country鈥檚 regime being criticised for denying rights to migrant workers, women and LGBTI people.
Despite Neville鈥檚 belief in the possibility of a 鈥渘icer capitalism鈥, it is going to take radical reform and movements from below such as the protests which helped defeat the ESL proposal in 2021 to take back power for the fans. Despite The People鈥檚 Game鈥檚 shortcomings, its willingness to reflect fans鈥 anger makes it worth reading.