Gary Neville thanks SAF, rules himself out of future managerial role
Gary Neville cannot see himself taking another role as a football manager following his failed stint in charge of Valencia.
The former Manchester United captain was sacked by Valencia after only four months in charge in March 2016, while he also served as an assistant manager for England under Roy Hodgson.
Instead of returning to the dugout, Neville wants to continue to pursue his business interests which include owning non-league side Salford City and running new project University Academy 92 – an education programme teaching sport and business students leadership skills – alongside his media work.
While Neville does not regret his spell at Valencia, he cannot see himself taking another managerial role in the future and has definitively ruled it out for at least the next five years.
“It’ll never happen,” the ex-England international said to The Daily Mail.
“I’m a million miles away. I suppose never is a strong word because in 10 years you might wake up and say, ‘I want to coach’.
“I love football and the camaraderie but I don’t want to be in that environment anymore.
“Up until 15 months ago I was coach of England and 19 months ago I was coach of Valencia, so it would be impossible to say at that stage that I’m never going to be a coach, but I had turned down two or three Premier League jobs, I turned down two Championship jobs and I wasn’t going to go into coaching.
“I did it because it was my business partner and I thought that the opportunity for an Englishman to manage one of the top four or five clubs in Spain was never going to happen again.
“It was an unbelievable opportunity and it didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, but I enjoyed every minute and it taught me a lot and things I will apply to my business life.
“I don’t regret going to Spain. I would have liked to have stayed in Valencia for 18 months, but I wouldn’t have continued in coaching.”
Thank you to Sir Alex Ferguson CBE for opening #ThePeninsulaStadium this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/ICvAVhY0tw
— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) October 19, 2017
He added: “With everything I have on, there would be no role in football I would be able to take because it would mean me stepping away from the projects I have. I’ve committed to too much out of football to take a job in football over the next five years.
“As a football coach, the maximum amount of people you can impact with your values and principles is 20, the players you have in your team. I started to think how we could actually impact more people.
“My ultimate aim is to learn as much about business, sport, media and education over the next five or 10 years and deliver these projects and then settle down into a role over the next 10 to 15 years and be able to say that I’ve taught myself how to be a businessman, or someone who works in the media or in education.”
