New Beckham & Neville consortium buys Salford City

Gary Neville (left) was part of Salford City's takeover by the Class of '92 in 2014 while David Beckham (right) first invested five years later

David Beckham and Gary Neville have completed a takeover of Salford City as part of a new consortium, buying out the rest of the Class of '92.

Their former Manchester United team-mates Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville are no longer shareholders as part of the new ownership group, which includes former banker Lord Mervyn Davies and businessman Declan Kelly.

However, the quartet will remain involved with the club in roles "across technical, football, commercial, recruitment and the SCFC foundation".

"I'm so proud to be part of a new ownership group alongside my mate [Gary Neville] as we begin the next chapter of Salford's journey," Beckham, who turned 50 last week, posted on Instagram.

After the Class of 92's arrival at the club in 2014, Salford won four promotions in five seasons to reach the English Football League in 2019, but have remained in League Two since.

The Ammies finished the 2024-25 League Two campaign in eighth position, missing out on a play-off spot on the final day and ending the season one point outside the top seven.

Nine shareholders make up the new consortium, including India-based Dream Sports Group, Colin Ryan, Frank Ryan, Nick Woodhouse and Shravin Mittal.

Their arrival comes after the club's ownership began the process of courting new investment in 2024.

"The acquisition includes a commitment by the new shareholders to invest significantly in the club, the team and its facilities," a Salford statement said.

Beckham joined the Class of '92 and billionaire Peter Lim in investing in the club in 2019, almost five years after the initial takeover.

Gary Neville bought fellow co-owner Lim's stake in the club - which had previously been 50% - last summer in order to "pave the way for a new strategic partner".

Following Thursday's takeover, Neville said the new ownership group would "drive the club towards sustainability in the next four to five years".

In a follow-up video posted on the club's X account, he added: "Football always will be the priority. Football must come first in every single football club and I shouldn't even have to say that.

"Success on the pitch is critical to us but we also need to make sure that our facilities, stadium and the training ground improve enormously along the way.

"We do need to become sustainable, we do need to grow revenues, while making sure that we look after our fans and making it accessible - you have my word on that."

In a joint statement, Kelly and Lord Davies said: "Hopefully [we can] bring more success to Salford City's wonderful fanbase, players and everyone associated with the club."

Salford City last won promotion in 2019 - through the National League play-offs when they beat AFC Fylde at Wembley Stadium

Salford enjoyed a meteoric rise through non-league football following the original takeover in 2014, going from regional football to league football in five years.

Having won the Northern Premier League Division One North in their first season under new ownership, promotion to the National League North followed the season after.

The club won promotion to the National League two seasons later in 2017-18 and then subsequently went up to League Two via the play-offs in 2018-19.

Since then, however, that momentum has floundered.

In six seasons in the fourth tier, Salford have reached the play-offs just once, when they were beaten in the semi-final by local rivals Stockport County in 2023.

Last season they finished 20th, their lowest position since winning promotion to the EFL, but they fared much better under manager Karl Robinson's stewardship this term.

Robinson had led the club to third in the table in January, but their form tailed off, picking up just six wins from their final 22 games after a chastening 8-0 drubbing by Manchester City in the FA Cup.

'Announcement should keep club moving forward' - analysis

Simon Stone, BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Owning a football club is an exceptionally costly business.

The Class of '92 have individually ploughed money into Salford since they bought the club - who were in the eighth tier of English football at the time - in 2014.

However, they were shielded from being responsible for the true scale of the investment needed to drive Salford into the Football League - and effectively construct an entirely new stadium - thanks to the involvement of Singapore businessman and Valencia owner Peter Lim.

After a decade, with individual figures in the Class of '92 wanting to scale back their investment, another ownership model was needed.

BBC Sport has been told full takeover options were available but came with negative elements that meant the Class of '92 might be held responsible for decisions being taken without actually having any involvement in making them.

Gary Neville and David Beckham have both decided it was better to retain a financial stake than risk their names and have spent the past few months putting together a new group of smaller shareholders they believe have the expertise to build on what Salford have achieved.

Saturday brought disappointment through missing out on the League Two play-offs but ambition remains at Moor Lane and today's announcement should keep the club moving forward.