‘United Front’: Beckham and Neville lead consortium hoping to reignite Salford City’s top-flight aspirations

11/05/2025

English footballing legends David Beckham and Gary Neville have spearheaded a consortium-led takeover of Salford City F.C., a club the two previously held shares in - alongside other household names from Manchester United’s ‘Class of ‘92’ squad.¹

Salford City comments that ‘the acquisition has been uniquely structured, through a members club made up of nine shareholders’, who have ‘extensive experience working with many of the world’s biggest companies and brands’.² Alongside major investment and technology firms, the consortium also includes Frank W. Ryan, a Global Co-CEO and sports law specialist at legal powerhouse DLA Piper.³

The Athletic reports that ‘the collective are believed to have raised around $15-20million’, with each member holding ‘a 5 per cent or 10 per cent stake, totalling at 80 per cent’, with the remaining 20 per cent ‘earmarked for additional partners’.⁴

After the initial buzz following the 2014 investment from Manchester United household names and the billionaire Singapore businessman Peter Lim, the club ascended four divisions in five seasons, from the NPL Division One North (8th tier) to League Two (4th tier).⁵ However, with the club remaining there since, narrowly avoiding relegation in the 2023-24 season, Salford City hopes this change will help them realise their ambitions of rising through the divisions and, one day, making it to the Premier League.