‘Man Utd icon broke club’s unwritten rule – I couldn’t shake his hand after’

Gary Neville has opened up on his decision to snub shaking Peter Schmeichel’s hand after the goalkeeper moved from Manchester United to Manchester City. The ‘Great Dane’ built a brotherly relationship with Neville during his eight-year stint with the Red Devils in the 1990s.

And after successful spells with Sporting CP and Aston Villa, he committed what many United fans believe to be a cardinal sin of returning to Manchester to play for the Citizens in 2002. The move rubbed Neville up the wrong way, given how fierce the rivalry between the neighbouring clubs is, as well as an awkward moment as the two sides lined up to participate in the Manchester derby of November 2002. Neville was set to lead United out onto the pitch of Maine Road as a step-in captain when Schmeichel made his way down to the front of the tunnel to do the same for the Sky Blues.

And while Schmeichel shared a handshake with Fabien Barthez, the mood was frosty when he approached Neville to ask if they could switch sides in the tunnel. The full-back stayed completely silent as he momentarily locked eyes with Schmeichel, before moving aside while pushing his hand away.

Neville then stood stoically, with a stern look painted across his face, before leaving the tunnel to go to war with his bitter rivals. Speaking about the meeting in 2018, Neville defended his decision to snub any niceties with Schmeichel.

During an appearance on the Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? podcast, he explained: “When you look back now and you’re 43, like I am, there are two things about that. One, he left Man United at the age of whatever he was, 35, and he said he was retiring, basically to go abroad.

“At the time when he came back, he played for Manchester City. You can’t play for Manchester City. I’m a United fan and I can’t play for Manchester City, I can’t play for Leeds and I can’t play for Liverpool. That’s just written in stone.

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“You just don’t play for those clubs, irrespective of what happens. He’d won the treble with United in ’99, said that he was retiring… he should have carried on playing for United for the next two or three years if that was the case. We struggled for a keeper between Peter and Edwin [van der Sar].

“The other thing was at that time I hated everybody, we all did. Everybody hated us, we all hated everybody. That’s the way it was. With Sir Alex [Ferguson], you’re on an island and we were [in a] siege mentality. If you’re not on the island, do one.”

Neville also added that he held a philosophy of never shaking hands with players before a match, irrespective of who they were or who they were playing for. He added: “Shake hands at the end of the game when you’ve had the battle. I just think, I’m focusing before a game.

“I’m focusing on my first pass, which wasn’t always a good one, my first touch, my first tackle, my opponent and how I’m going to affect him in the first five minutes of that game. I can’t let him go past me on my first one-on-one – that’s impossible – because if he goes past me the first time he’s going to get confidence.

“I’m also going to run off him going forward to make him think he’s got to run back. The first time the ball is in the air, I’m going to win that header. All I’m thinking about before that game is that. The idea of talking to a player from the opposition – that would distract me.

“So you say about not shaking hands with Peter Schmeichel, but I didn’t shake hands with my brother [Phil Neville] when he was captain of Everton. And that’s not because I don’t like my brother – I do like him, he’s all right.”

During the Manchester derby of November 2002, City ran out 3-1 winners over United on home soil, with a brace from Shaun Goater and a goal from Nicolas Anelka cancelling out Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s strike. It comes as the pair of Manchester clubs are set to meet at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, more than two decades on from Neville’s spat with Schmeichel.

Pep Guardiola‘s Citizens will be keen to find consistency on home turf given a mixed-bag of results in their opening three Premier League fixtures of the season. With a win over Wolves and losses to both Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton, City will be eager to find their form against their bitter rivals.

United, on the other hand, head into the game with a loss, a draw and a win to their name against Arsenal, Fulham and Burnley respectively. Ruben Amorim will feel the pressure to succeed this term after receiving the board’s full backing this summer, following a dismal 15th-place finish in the Premier League last term.