While many footballers hit the town on a Saturday night, risking
the wrath of the paparazzi and tabloid front pages, Phil Neville is
most likely sitting at home eating a Chinese - the one "treat" he
will allow himself each week - and watching Match of the
Day. In an era when excess is rife among players and Premier
League stars are as reviled for their behaviour off the pitch as
they are revered for their displays on it, the Everton captain's
dedication to his profession is refreshing.
Neville has been competing in English football's top flight for
16 years, the first ten of which were as part of Sir Alex
Ferguson's golden generation. In a decade at Manchester United, the
defender-cum-midfielder picked up six Premier League titles, three
FA Cups and the Champions League as a member of the legendary
Treble winners of 1999.
In the summer of 2005, Neville bade farewell to Old Trafford and
travelled up the M62 to Everton, where the tremendous work ethic
that had characterised his career helped him flourish under David
Moyes, a manager cut from the same cloth as his former boss. Moyes
quickly identified in Neville the leadership qualities that had
made him captain of United's 1995 FA Youth Cup-winning side and he
was appointed Toffees' skipper in only his second season at the
club. Six years later, he is still captain.
Neville's football education at United instilled in him a will
to win that has never wavered throughout his career, as well as the
principles of hard work and meticulous preparation that still
govern his approach to football at the age of 34. The former
England international is what most would describe as a model
professional but, while he never enjoys hearing about players who
attract negative press for their lavish lifestyles, Neville accepts
that differences in personality are impossible to avoid.
"It does frustrate me but I also understand that if you get a
squad of 20 players, not everybody can be the same - the best teams
have a varied make-up of players," Neville tells
ESPNsoccernet. "My strength throughout my career has been
my professionalism and the fact that I've done the right things 90%
of the time, and hopefully people have learnt from that. But then
there's other players I've played with, someone like Dwight Yorke
for example, who have done things more spontaneously and are more
off the cuff. That was his character and his special quality and he
helped the team in his own way.
"Not everyone can be the same but we are role models and I do
think it's important we try to do the right things 99% of the time.
I've got a son now who plays football and I never realised the
effect players have on kids. From goal celebrations to the way they
act on the pitch to the boots they wear, children look up to us and
I think it's so important that we do portray a good image."
Every inch a family man, Neville is bursting with pride when
discussion turns to older brother Gary, who decided to bring his
19-year career to an end in February. The Everton captain reveals
that his sibling thought long and hard about retirement and insists
that the timing of the announcement ensured Gary's reputation has
been preserved.
"It wasn't a surprise at all to me because it wasn't just a
decision that happened overnight," Neville explains. "It was a
gradual thing - over a six-month period he realised that he had
come to the end of the road. He made a really brave decision: he
had got to the point where injuries had caught up with him and I
think when you've been playing for 20 years you just get tired.
"He could have gone on until the end of the season, but he said
enough is enough - he's had a great career and it's time for
somebody else to take over. I think he should be applauded for his
timing because some players drift down the leagues and you forget
how good they were, but I think everyone remembers Gary now for how
great a player he has been and he had the full backing of me and
the family. We all understood his decision."
Gary has since been tipped for a coaching role at Old Trafford
and, while Phil has no plans to follow him in hanging up his boots
anytime soon, he says the thought of them working together again in
the future has crossed his mind. And the younger Neville says that
even the prospect of working under his brother doesn't faze
him.
"I think when you've got an older brother you tend to take
orders from him for most of your life so I'd say that wouldn't be a
problem! But, seriously, I would love to work with my brother
again. It was something that, when I left Man United, I realised I
had perhaps taken for granted a little bit in the earlier part of
my career. Everything I did was with my brother and when I came to
Everton there was a large void left in my life because I wasn't
going to work with him every day.
"It was maybe a good thing that we played for different clubs
for a few years but I do miss not being in the same environment as
him because we are very close. We both love football and maybe one
day we could be managing against each other or even working
together. When the time comes, coaching is something that I do want
to get involved in and study hard for. Hopefully the fact that I
love watching, playing and being a part of it will help me, but I
know it won't be a walk in the park. I've got no God-given right to
be a success at it and I will have to work as hard as I have at my
playing career."
For now, Neville is still keeping all his focus on life at
Everton - though his brother's retirement, coupled with the
advancing years of some famous former team-mates, has certainly
brought into focus the transience of his playing career.
"Even though Gary's retired and Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs,
myself, David Beckham and Nicky Butt are all probably coming to the
end of our careers, I always still think of us as 'Fergie's
Fledglings', who came through the ranks together. That's the way I
still feel and even playing now, when we have piggy-in-the-middle
in training and they say 'youngest in the middle', I still think it
should be me even though I'm probably one of the oldest!
"Obviously there's days when you wake up and think, 'Dear me,
there's not long left in this body' but then you go out on the
training pitch and feel great. I think, when you get to our age,
you don't look too far ahead, maybe just looking at the next six
months rather than the next six years, but as long as you keep
enjoying it, which I am, you keep going for as long as you possibly
can."
Neville's move to Goodison Park six years ago undoubtedly
breathed fresh life into his career and while many players - the
likes of Dwight Yorke, Lee Sharpe and Andrei Kanchelskis
immediately spring to mind - struggle to deal with life after
United, the Bury-born defender has thrived at Everton. He made more
than 30 appearances in each of his first four seasons at the club,
a feat he achieved just once at United
"I think I left United at the right time. Alex Ferguson told me
it was the right time to go and try a new adventure; I agreed with
him and I joined a great club. I've had the most amazing six years
here. It seems like yesterday I was making my debut against
Villarreal. Players leave Manchester United and they drift away but
I've enjoyed these six years as much as I enjoyed the 14 years at
Manchester United. I think you get out what you put in and I've put
my heart and soul into this move. I wanted it to be a success and
it has been - I hope I will always be welcome back here when my
career is finished."
Interest in Neville from Tottenham in January looked like it may
signal the end of his Goodison Park career, but the club rejected
the advances out of hand. He says the offer came as a bit of a
surprise but maintains that a Fernando Torres-style transfer
request was never on the cards. His manager was particularly angry
by bids that he labelled "insulting" and, as soon as Moyes said he
wanted his captain to stay, there was never going to be any other
outcome. Neville's belief in the Scot and his principles is
unerring and it appears that, in Moyes, he has found a kindred
spirit.
The club discussed Tottenham's interest with me and I left it up
to them to make the decision. It was obviously flattering but it
was also flattering that David Moyes didn't want me to go. I'm
captain of a club I love playing for so I respected Everton's
wishes and got on with playing football. As much as you want to
play Champions League football, you have to show loyalty to the
club and the manager who has done so much for me.
"David Moyes is the catalyst, the engine that drives everybody
forward, and he is the one who gets the players motivated when
they're down. He has an unbelievable drive, work ethic and will to
succeed - he is a fighter and a fantastic manager who wants to
bring success to Everton. To be honest, it was because of him that
I joined the club. From the very first time I spoke to him, our
relationship has got better and better - he is the driving force
behind me at Everton and the club itself."