GARY NEVILLE is urging the mega-rich within the Premier League to help the NHS and the wider community in the fight against coronavirus.
The Manchester United legend, 45, wants to see football “look outwards” and “do something quite spectacular” in order to set an example and lead the way in Britain.
With players, managers, owners and clubs in England’s top flight awash with cash, he is desperate to see football prove that it can still have a positive impact on society – even with matches postponed until at least the end of April.
Neville criticised the Premier League for their delay in calling off matches.
But speaking to the Daily Mail, he called on football to do the right thing.
Neville said: “I am hoping the League Managers Association, PFA, FA, Premier League and EFL are behind the scenes coming up with something.
“Obviously they have done in terms of the protection of health of the fans and players. That’s number one. Number two is that they can now come up with something that protects the business of football so that the clubs don’t go to the wall and that fans have a club to watch at the end of this.
“But after that I am hoping football can do something very big from a community basis on a nationwide scale — in terms of how they can contribute in this time.
“Whether that’s individually as players or staff or clubs, we know there have been some great gestures already. But I do think something else has to come.
“Football has to look outwards. You can’t just look inwards at a time like this. Football has to do something quite spectacular, I think, so that it sets the tone for the rest of the country. That is what football needs to be doing and I am sure it is doing.
“I am conscious of creating ideas that put pressure on football or on players. I don’t want to do that.
“But ultimately you can imagine the amount of money that could be awash in football that could potentially be diverted at this time towards more essential services.
“I was critical of the Premier League days ago when I thought they were slow to shut down. There was so much global intelligence around.
“But I think now the organisations within football will do the right thing and make bold decisions that won’t only benefit football but also communities outside the game.”
Neville has come in for plenty of plaudits in recent days alongside fellow Class of ’92 members and ex-Manchester United team-mates Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and his brother Phil.
The consortium own two hotels in Manchester – Hotel Football in the shadow of Old Trafford and the Stock Exchange – and are allowing NHS staff and medical professionals to stay at either for free over the coming weeks and months.
Giggs’ mum Lynne worked for the NHS for many years and helped with the idea. So far 35 have taken up residence across the two hotels but Neville expects that to hit their 176-bed capacity by the end of the week.
And now the former right-back has every confidence that other footballers will step up with their own acts of generosity and selflessness at this critical time for the nation – especially because many come from backgrounds which look likely to be hit hardest by the social consequences of Covid-19.
He added: “I have great faith in football players in terms of their souls. I really believe that 99 per cent of them are really good human beings who will want to not only look after themselves, but also the communities they are part of. I think football will do it.
“Most come from the kind of communities that find times like this the most challenging. I do believe players will step up in the next month. Some already have.
“They won’t be selfish. They will want to do something special in the next few weeks, once they have worked out what it is. Sometimes the best help may be to social-distance and stay in their home. What can they do outside of that to bring value to the community to help people and the services cope with the challenges they face?
“One of the things we learned from our days at Old Trafford is that the team is more important than anything. We don’t believe we are above anyone else. We are all equal. Everybody deserves an opportunity.
“Nobody should be worse off because of their postcode. We understand our roots and where we came from. The reality is that some wealthy people out there are thinking selfishly. But some are not.”
