Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Gary Neville, League Two, Football
Luke Davies
Salford City’s League Two fixture against Oldham Athletic was temporarily halted due to pitch invaders protesting against co-owner Gary Neville on Saturday.
At least two pitch invaders made it onto the field of play at the Peninsula Stadium before stewards guided them away.
One culprit was wearing a white hoodie with the words “Gary Neville is a traitor” emblazoned on the back, and they also waved a St George’s flag while another attempted to plant their flag in the centre circle.
Reports suggest that chants of “Gary Neville is a w*****" and “England” accompanied the protest.
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Right-wing political party Britain First posted a video claiming responsibility for the protest shortly after the incident.
“This afternoon, Britain First teamed up with local Salford patriots to protest the treachery of Gary Neville at a football match between Salford and Oldham,” read a caption.
This comes after the former Manchester United right-back and Salford co-owner fuelled a debate surrounding the use of the Union Jack and St George’s flag.
Last week, Neville posted a rant to LinkedIn aimed at “angry middle-aged white men” who are using the Union Jack in a “negative fashion”.
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"The division that's being created is absolutely disgusting, and it's mainly created by angry, middle-aged white men who know exactly what they're doing,” Neville said before going on to say that he’d taken down a Union Jack which had been raised at one of his development sites.
"I've been building in this city for 15-20 years, and nobody's put a flag up, so why do you need to put one up now? Quite clearly, it's sending a message to everybody that there's something you don't like," he added.
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“The Union Jack flag used in a negative fashion is not right and I’m a proud supporter of England, of Great Britain, of our country and will champion it anywhere in the world as one of the greatest places to live.
“But I think we need to check ourselves, check ourselves and start to think about bringing ourselves back to a neutral point because we’re being pulled right and left and we don’t need to be pulled right and left at all.”
On Tuesday, a number of England fans also sang a distasteful chant about Neville during the Three Lions’ 5-0 win against Latvia in Riga.
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In recent months, there have been many St George’s and Union Jack flags put up in UK towns, cities and villages, with many people questioning why.
One group responsible for the increase told BBC News that they are motivated by pride and patriotism, while others have claimed that it is provocative at a time of tensions with regards to immigration.