In this day and age it’s good to talk about a player who, despite his status as playing for one of the top teams in the country, and who is a regular for England, is not one who is always on the front pages of tabloid papers for drunken nights out. I’m talking about Gary Neville. He is a one-club man and though he may not be blessed with the kind of natural talent we associate with other defenders, he is the most reliable player the Premiership -- and England -- have had in years.

It’s hard to believe that it’s now 15 years since he made his senior debut for Manchester United and of course
he was part of that famous United youth team which included the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Neville has won seven Premiership titles, three FA Cups, one European Cup and one League Cup, the last of which was his first trophy as captain.

On the international front he made his England debut in 1995 and has been a first choice player ever since. He
could pass Kenny Sansom’s record of 86 caps this autumn in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and even go on to get 100 caps. Neville is quick on his feet and can match most strikers for pace, and though he is not the best header of a ball in the world, he is totally dependable at right back, which is what you want from the position.
Interestingly, Neville is also known as a defender of other players, often acting as a kind of shop steward in
the England camp.

'His passion for the game does sometimes go a bit over the top as when he went charging to the Liverpool fans after United’s late winner last season kissing the badge on his shirt. But that’s Neville, a true United fan who realised his dream to put on the red shirt'


And he has had interesting things to say about football agents.Earlier this year, he said in an interview: "Footballers think they need agents -- but it's not the case. Players need good advice and good accountants but they don't need agents taking hundreds of thousands of pounds off of them".

Neville wants football players to deal with transfer issues themselves and ease out the necessity of using
agents. In fact, there is a move within the PFA for that organisation represent players as they do with James
Milner of Newcastle. Now that would be an interesting development. But it is typical of this loyal player that he puts the issues of football and the one club he has represented before the opportunity to make millions from club hopping every few years.

His passion for the game does sometimes go a bit over the top as when he went charging to the Liverpool fans after United’s late winner last season kissing the badge on his shirt. But that’s Neville, a true United fan who realised his dream to put on the red shirt, and that day he was behaving like a fan. Just like he did after the takeover of Malcolm Glazer. This is what he said:  "I always say this to the fans when they talk about who owns the club: When you first walked into that ground at the age of five or ten, you didn't walk up the steps from the refreshment bar and think, 'who's that sat over in the director's box?'. "And you can still sense that passion when you go to the pubs in Salford and you see the MUFC tattoos on knuckles. This club can enthrall you. That's what Manchester United does, it grips you and gets you if you really want it!"

So, let’s give it up for this great servant to club and country, a true red who cares passionately about the game. An old fashioned man in a world where old fashioned values are sadly missing.