Gary Neville has decided to take a step back from Monday Night Football to focus on the Premier League coverage with NBC Sports in the United States.
Gary Neville has decided to take a step back from Monday Night Football to focus on Premier League coverage with NBC Sports in the United States. The former Manchester United ace, has been a famous figure on MNF since the 2011/12 season after succeeding analyst Andy Gray.
Initially teamed up with Ed Chamberlin in 2014 before sharing the studio with Jamie Carragher in the following year, the pair’s dynamic has been a hit with viewers. The decision may surprise fans who have enjoyed Neville and Carragher’s on-screen chemistry. Neville’s most recent appearance on MNF was back in mid-August, with Carragher solo anchoring since then.
Speaking on The Overlap to Rebecca Lowe, Neville unveiled: “So tomorrow, I’m expected to do set-pieces, whereas with Sky, on Monday Night Football, there are some set pieces which I prepare for – but now I don’t do Monday Night Football anymore. I don’t do set-pieces any more.”
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Neville could still return occasionally, with the show aiming to introduce more special guests moving forward, rather than leaning solely on the Neville-Carragher partnership. However, regular sightings of him alongside Carragher and fellow pundits in the studio seem unlikely.
Sky Sports are reportedly finalising plans for Neville to work from NBC’s live New York studio for up to four weekends this season, including two appearances before Christmas. However, these dates are not expected to coincide with major Premier League matches.
The ECHO has taken a closer look at the life of the former footballer-turned-pundit.
Net worth
The Bury-born entrepreneur is the majority owner of Salford City FC, having bought the club with other ‘Class of 92’ alumni in 2014 and overseen their rise to League Two.
Beyond football, Neville has built a substantial business empire, starting in property development in his early 20s. He now owns a chain of hotels and townhouses, including Hotel Football, which overlooks Old Trafford.
The Stock Exchange Hotel near Piccadilly Gardens is also owned by the United legend. He is involved in the St Michael’s Project, aiming to build apartments, hotels, offices and a high-end restaurant in Manchester city centre.
In 2015, he founded investment company Relentless, specialising in ventures across the Manchester area. Additionally, Neville runs a property and construction consultancy firm named Zerum.
E3 Creative, a digital creative agency focusing on online marketing and corporate strategy, also benefits from Neville’s investment. Companies House records show that his hotel business alone has accumulated £20m in assets and his property development company has assets of £10.5m.
The remaining businesses of the former footballer reportedly have combined assets of £40m, and he is also said to be earning over £1m a year for his role on Sky. These are just some of the ways Neville has amassed his reported net worth of £70million.
His business acumen even led him to appear as an investor on BBC’s Dragons Den earlier this year.
Family life
Neville met his wife Emma Hadfield in 2004 when she was working as a shop assistant in Middleton, Greater Manchester. The couple got married three years later and have two teenage daughters, Molly and Sophie.
In their early years together, Emma studied holistic therapy but is now a qualified counsellor and accredited ‘Menopause Coach.’ At the end of last year, she launched her new online support network, teaching women about the menopause and offering advice on how best to navigate it.
Emma revealed that she had been diagnosed with early menopause shortly after her most recent birthday. Now, she shares her wisdom and supports other women who are going through the same after qualifying as a counsellor in 2019.
“So proud of my wife Emma with the launch of her new community for women,” Neville previously said about her latest project.
Loss of his dad and close bond
The pundit lost his father, Neville, in 2015. They were extremely close, with Neville attending all of Gary’s games for United. Years after his dad’s death, Gary said he sometimes still rings him by accident as he is top speed dial on his phone.
“I don’t ring people. I don’t ring my brother Phil every day, I don’t text my sister every day, I don’t ring my mum every day – but I rang my dad every day, three or four times a day,” he shared on ‘The Diary of a CEO’ in 2022.
“He was the only constant in my life. I put his office next to our house because basically he looked after my stuff. I’ve still got him at the top of my favourites in my speed dials – I’ll never move him. I go to ring my mum and you press ‘Dad’ and it freaks me out and makes me well-up a little bit.”
“He was at every single one of my games. I waved at my dad 602 times. I couldn’t settle until I had found him.”
