Salford co-owners David Beckham and Gary Neville have admitted the club faced "serious trouble" before a takeover "saved" the League Two team. The Manchester United legends were "genuinely worried" by losses of £22.5 million over seven years as they sought a new buyer following majority shareholder Peter Lim's exit. But their new ownership group raised nearly £30m to rescue Salford.
Consortium completes Salford takeover
Neville and Beckham joined forces with Declan Kelly, founder of US-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association, to take Salford's ownership in a new direction in May. But the £22.5m ($30m) losses over seven years meant it was a "scary" time for Beckham and Neville.
AdvertisementGetty Images EntertainmentBeckham on how Salford was 'saved'
The Inter Miami co-owner said that between $30-40m (£22m-30m) was raised to save Salford, something they thought could happen in two years but ended up occurring in four to five months.
He told The Athletic: "The group we brought together wanted to invest even more than we expected. They sat with Gary, heard about the project, and knew exactly where we wanted to take the club. That’s when we went from needing – I think the number at the start was $12-14m – and we ended up raising between $30-40m. When we reached that, Gary got really emotional. That’s what it means to him and it’s the passion you want. If we hadn’t have done it, the club would have been in serious trouble."
Salford's future looking brighter
While this extra investment has come in, including from 23 investors and partners like AIG and Coca-Cola, the fabled Class of '92 ownership group of Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes relinquished their respective stakes in Salford with the takeover. In addition to those off-field financial boosts, Salford sit third in League Two at the time of writing and are in with a shout of promotion.
Getty Images SportWhat next for Beckham and Neville's Salford?
On Saturday, Beckham and Neville's Salford have a chance to go top of League Two if they beat early pacesetters Swindon Town. Karl Robinson's team then travel to play-off hopefuls Bristol Rovers next weekend.