Breaking News: Man Utd legend’s ‘brutal’ treatment of Gary Neville and warning at Christmas do

During a Christmas party in 1998, Red Devils teammate Gary Neville was cruelly attacked by Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel.

Peter Schmeichel confronted Gary Neville at a Manchester United Christmas party (Image: Getty Images)

Gary Neville was once advised by Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel that he posed a “risk” to the Red Devils’ team.

As a member of the renowned Class of ’92, Neville didn’t exactly have the backing of his United teammates when he made his debut in 1994. Schmeichel, who turned 61 this week (November 18), confronted Neville at a Christmas party.

Neville once described how Schmeichel drew him aside before the team’s 1998 Christmas party to tell him he wasn’t “good enough” and that he would “cause problems” for United’s defense in an interview with the Stick To Football podcast, which is presented by Sky Bet.

“I was always vocal on the pitch, I’d give loads of information to my centre back and right winger, I’d never shut up on the pitch,” Neville said. However, when it came to confronting others, [Peter] Schmeichel was cruel to me during my initial training.

“One Christmas party, he told me that he believed I was dangerous. He claimed that I was the first player to break into Paul Parker’s outstanding back four, and that he viewed me as a risk because he believed I wouldn’t be good enough and would cause issues.

Three years after my break-in, he informed me that this had occurred in 1998. He continued, “It was almost like an initiation; Roy [Keane], [Paul] Ince, and the boss [Sir Alex Ferguson] were like that.”

“Eric Harrison said to me after 17 games in the first team, and I was picked for England, that you’re not a Manchester United player until you’ve played 100 matches, you need three seasons.”

All players needed to accumulate a “three-season bank of games” before they could gain the full respect of the dressing room, according to Neville. “[Ryan] Giggs was so quiet, [Paul] Scholes, Butty [Nicky Butt], all of us – we were mice for the first four or five years in the dressing room.”

After playing more than 600 games for United, Neville led the team from 2005 to 2010 before retiring in 2011. He had won three FA Cups, two Champions Leagues, and eight Premier League titles before he retired. The “risk” isn’t all so bad after all.