Tracy Neville has condemned the “absolutely horrifying” moment when her brother Gary became the target of vile abuse on the street. The former Manchester United defender appeared in a video earlier this week that showed him being verbally attacked by a member of the public while out and about.
The video, which has been viewed more than 2.5 million times and received 23,000 likes on social media platform X, shows Neville confronting someone in broad daylight. A man filming the scene was heard saying, “Is that Gary Neville? Wow,” to which Neville responded, “What?”
The man then continued to yell abuse, saying, “W*****, W*****.” That’s you. Fa ****** w*****. Listen, I’m filming you because you’re cheating. You know everything you want to know about working-class people. Hey, even your fans are against you because you’re an asshole. ”
The video is captioned: “Gary Neville being called an ‘Aff****** w*****’ was not something I expected to see on a Monday morning, but it’s a real treat.”
Neville’s sister Tracy also responded, writing: “This situation is absolutely horrifying and I can assure you it’s not fun.”
Former footballer John Hartson echoed this sentiment, replying: “What does this idiot think he is accomplishing? Gary is abusing him in public with one of his family members and some asshole. If you want to abuse the dead, do it in front of a TV screen, not in public. Not very smart!”
Neville, 51, has yet to publicly address his video. The former United star returned to Sky Sports at the weekend to provide commentary for Manchester City’s potentially important win against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
The former England defender is not the first Sky Sports pundit to get into a spat with a member of the public this week. Colleague Jamie Carragher also faced abuse from Everton fans ahead of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby victory at the Hill Dickinson Stadium at the weekend.
Some home fans could be heard saying: “Fuck you, Carla, you son of a bitch”, before shouting “Fuck you, you son of a bitch”.
Mr Carragher was apparently drawn into the response to the riot and was briefly involved in interactions with supporters. He ultimately brushed off the remaining taunts and chose to continue walking around the pitch.
