Salford City co-owner Gary Neville opted to miss the biggest game in his club’s history to go on holiday. Neville, the former Manchester United defender who bought Salford with the rest of his Class of 92 team-mates almost 11 years ago, decided against watching the League Two team in their FA Cup third round tie at Manchester City.
Almost 5,500 Salford fans were at the Etihad to watch their side get thrashed 8-0 by Pep Guardiola's all conquering side - but Neville wasn’t one of them. Sources claim he instead decided to go on a skiing holiday. Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were in attendance. But Neville, his brother Phil and David Beckham decided not to watch Salford against the reigning Premier League champions.
Ryan Giggs was also at the Etihad, but rather than in a directors' box, the United legend was in the away side's dugout. The former Wales boss has been serving as Karl Robinson's assistant, as well as his responsibilities as the club's Director of Football.
And it only took eight minutes for Neville's decision to be partially vindicated as the four-time Premier League champions asserted their dominance to open the scoring through Jeremy Doku. Devin Mubama then made it 2-0 on the 20-minute mark, with the home supporters taking the chance to goad their absent foe.
