Gary Neville thinks Manchester United must ‘win again’ to maintain Hong Kong fan base and fend off rivals City
- Former captain says United ‘is rock solid in its foundations, will come back no doubt’ despite rivals City growing in popularity in Hong Kong
- ‘For all of Manchester United’s difficulties, they are on another level when it comes to scale of club and international fan base,’ Neville says
If the packed turnout to see Gary Neville at a speaking event in Hong Kong on Friday was anything to go by, Manchester United remain a hugely popular club in the city.
The former captain was here promoting his new luxury development, the W Residences Manchester, but potential buyers turned into star-struck fans as they lined up for selfies and autographs with him.
“There’s no doubt that Manchester City have made inroads in the last five or 10 years,” Neville told the Post during the Leap to Entrepreneurship event at Central’s Eaton Club in Champion Tower.
“When you’ve got players like Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, and Pep Guardiola as the manager, you’re going to attract people to watch.
“What I would say is for all Manchester United’s difficulties, they are on another level when it comes to scale of club and international fan base and local fan base. They just need to start winning again.
“But there’s no doubt that Manchester City, Chelsea and other clubs that have had wonderful periods in this last five or 10 years where Manchester United haven’t, will have excelled in their support.
“Well done to them for that but Manchester United is rock solid in its foundations. It’s a giant club and will come back, there’s no doubt.”
Neville says ‘whole of Man Utd needs disrupting’ as Ratcliffe arrival looms
The lack of recent appearances in the city will not have helped swell United’s Hong Kong fan base, either.
When tickets went on sale in February 2013, five months before that match, the queue at the Tom Lee Music store in Tsim Sha Tsui snaked around the block overnight.
“It used to be that Manchester United would travel all around the world equally to make sure that all their fans were able to catch a sight of their heroes,” Neville said.
“Now I suspect it may be slightly different and they will pursue the highest dollar. Ultimately that means that some fans don’t get to see the team as often as they would like.
“So I hope they can come back to Hong Kong very quickly because I know as a team when we played, and the manager, we loved coming over here and playing, we had a fantastic time in Hong Kong.
“We had some great events to attend, we had some great nights out as well. It’s a city that really looks after Manchester United, so they should come back soon.”
Neville himself has “special memories” of Hong Kong. He first came to the city with England in 1996, alongside his brother Phil Neville, for a match against a Hong Kong Golden Select XI.
It was the first time two brothers had played for England since Bobby and Jack Charlton in 1960. They also came to the city with United as freshly minted treble winners in 1999 for a preseason match.
“Every time I come here I get so excited. Just purely when you drive over that bridge [from the airport] and you look to your right and you think ‘wow’,” Gary Neville said.
“For those who live here, you maybe take it for granted sometimes but for those who travel here and come here less frequently it’s an amazing place.
“I’ve been back many times since with Manchester United and the Class of 92, love the place. I love Asia. I always travel to Asia on holiday with my family. Very rarely go West, I always go East, because I just think the people over here are incredibly special.
“We’ve always had a great relationship with Hong Kong, Manchester United is loved over here. But we loved coming over here as well.”
