Gary Neville launches furious rant at Premier League over 'selfish' stance and 'bullying' tactics

Gary Neville argued the Premier League comes across as "entitled" amid debate around the introduction of a new football regulator.

Former Manchester United captain Neville, speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, supports the introduction of a new independent regulator. However, there have been suggestions any government interference in domestic football could threaten the involvement of English club sides - or the national team - from UEFA competitions.

UEFA's general secretary Theodore Theodoridis is reported to have put concerns across in a letter to the UK's Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. Neville, though, attempted to allay fears over a regulator in a series of social media posts, suggesting somee cricits had been "scaremongering".

Nandy was also speaking at the event in question, where she said suggestions English clubs could be banned from Europe were “really disrespectful to fans because it caused a lot of alarm which was really unnecessary”. Neville, meanwhile, aimed a strongly-worded attack on the Premier League.

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“We have a Premier League that’s entitled, they feel entitled," Neville said. “I’m not going to use the word greedy, but I just have. They are selfish and I can’t understand that way of thinking.

“It’s almost like they’re the big brother that sit there and distribute scraps of food to the little brothers round the table. It’s not what you do when you’re in a family.”

He continued: “Their mindset is such of a bully. Their mindset is such that they think they can influence the regulator once the regulator’s introduced and they can get a better deal potentially the other side of the regulator. And what they’re applying is their soft power and their influence to try and create scare stories and scaremongering, like we had a couple of weeks ago.”

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The Labour Party remains committed to the introduction of a regulator, something which received cross-party support after a fan-led review of football governance, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer playing down concerns over a potential ban from Euro 2028. "I don't think there's any problem with the rules, because this is a truly independent regulator," he told reporters in Rome in mid-September.

"But as you'd expect, we're talking to UEFA, and I'm sure we'll find a way through this, but I'm confident that our rules are perfectly consistent, and that the regulator is truly independent. But of course we're talking to UEFA to make sure that we can ensure that everything is possible."

An independent regulator isn't the only suggestion to have been made as part of the Football Bill announced in the King's Speech over the summer. There have also been calls for better financial distribution between leagues and a new code for clubs to follow, among other inclusions.

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