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Gary Neville Reveals Real Reason He Refused A Handshake With Peter Schmeichel In 2002

Gary Neville Reveals Real Reason He Refused A Handshake With Peter Schmeichel In 2002

Gary Neville has explained the reason behind his cold demeanour towards Peter Schmeichel during the 2002 Manchester derby.

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz

Gary Neville has revealed the real reason he snubbed a handshake with Peter Schmeichel back in 2002.

The 43-year-old former Manchester United right-back was getting ready for the Manchester derby, with the 54-year-old Dane playing for Manchester City at the time.

While Schmeichel readily approached his former United teammate in the tunnel, Neville was not having any of it and outright snubbed a handshake before the match.

Speaking on the Quickly Kevin, will he score? podcast (via GiveMeSport), the Sky Sports pundit has explained his cold approach to the Premier League legend.

"When you look back now and you're 43, like I am, there's two things about that," he said. "One, he left Man United at the age of whatever he was, 35, and he said he was retiring, basically to go abroad.

"At the time, when he came back, he played for Manchester City.

"You can't play for Manchester City. I'm a United fan and I can't play for Manchester City, I can't play for Leeds [United] and I can't play for Liverpool.

PA

"That's just written in stone. You just don't play for those clubs, irrespective of what happens."

Neville, who has spoken about the tough experience he had with Schmeichel when he broke into the senior team, wasn't done there. To be fair, that was only the tip of the iceberg.

The former England international has questioned the shot-stopper's reason for making a move away from Old Trafford, as well as the mentality that Sir Alex Ferguson made every United player adopt.

"He'd won the treble with United in '99, said that he was retiring... he should have carried on playing for United for the next two or three years if that was the case," he explained.

PA

"We struggled for a 'keeper between Peter and Edwin [van der Sar].

"The other thing was at that time I hated everybody, we all did. Everybody hated us, we all hated everybody. That's the way it was.

"With Sir Alex, you're on an island and we were siege mentality. If you're not on the island, do one."

Was Neville right to snub Schmeichel?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Football News, Football, Gary Neville, Peter Schmeichel