When the Class of '92 bought Salford City in 2014, the club was light years away from where it is today.
Languishing in the Northern Premier League Division One North, Salford's road to the EFL looked tricky at best. The arrival of the former Manchester United stars handed the club the poisoned chalice of being favourites for every match.
But since their ownership was announced, for the most part, Salford have dealt with the expectations well. Their rise through non-league was complete when they beat AFC Fylde 3-0 at Wembley Stadium in the 2019 National League play-off final. It was an incredible achievement for the Ammies but, as the new series of the 'Class of '92 Full Time' documentary reveals, the club is once again at a crossroads.
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Three years on from their magical day in the capital, Salford remain in League Two and long-standing CEO Gary Neville has stepped aside to allow his co-owner Nicky Butt to take the reins. When Butt sat down with MEN Sport having watched the first episode of the Sky Sports documentary , he told us about how the handover from Neville came about.
"To be honest, there was no conversation with Nev," Butt explained. "The good thing about us as a group is that we always speak open and honestly around a table, like you do with your own mates.
"Gary has always been the spokesman, he came here, led it and he did a great job but it was always a group discussion. When we spoke about what the owners wanted, they wanted full-time members at the top end of the managerial structure including CEO, head of recruitment, that kind of stuff to drive the club forward.
"We all knew that was happening so when it was decided I was going to take over the CEO role it was a case that I was going to need help as I have never done it before but I have done my course which is like a driving licence, it doesn't mean you are going to be a great driver just because you have passed your test, so I needed help.
"I have spoken with Karen [Baird] who has been an amazing chairman for us and does an amazing job so I have been man-marking her for a good couple of weeks now. We have a great amount of staff who are doing unbelievable things for this football club and all I need to do is get the diamonds out of their heads to help me do the job to the best of my ability."
One of the main challenges highlighted in the documentary is the Ammies' dwindling attendances. Even before the cost of living crisis, Salford had lost approximately 1,000 fans from their gates.
Despite this, Neville is seen in the opening minutes of the new series looking around the AJ Bell Stadium, the current home of Sale Sharks and Salford Red Devils. Capable of holding 12,000 fans, 6,000 more than their Peninsula Stadium, the Class of '92 overwhelmingly feel that the stadium, which is overlooked by the M60, should be the new home of Salford City.
With talks still ongoing about a move to the AJ Bell, Butt revealed that he remains confident Salford will make the switch. "We think that we are nearly not too far off," he explained.
"But it is ongoing discussions at the minute. We have to be realistic that fans do have a spare cash shortage to watch football.
"We are the lowest ticket in the league but we have to understand that it is a tough time for a lot of people right now. A challenge for the staff is how we do get back up to 4 or 5,000 and if we go off to the AJ Bell, how we can kick on again?
"We are still in discussions with the council and appeal [over a move to the AJ Bell]. We are very confident that we will get it sorted out eventually but the time it has taken to get towards the answers we need has been difficult."
Right now, Salford City sit ninth in League Two having sacked their manager Gary Bowyer at the end of last season. Former United U23s manager Neil Wood has since taken over and Butt revealed that the Class of '92 previously made their 'biggest mistake' when it comes to former managers.
"At one stage, I know this is going to sound big-headed, it became just so easy to get promotion," Butt said. "When it didn't happen we was like, 'What is happening here?'
"But we realised that we have got to a level where we can't just push the football, we need to push the staff, the organisation, the stadium, everything that underpins the football. Over the last year or two that is what we have focused on.
"I do think that it will not be long until we get promotion, if it is not this year, it won't be far off. We have struggled [to get out of this division] and it has been a really good education but what we never wanted to do at first was to interfere with a manager.
"Our firm belief was that we were not interfering with the training schedule and we would sit back and let people go and run it and that was the biggest mistake we made. If you think about us as a group, again I will sound big-headed, but we are very, very knowledgeable about football.
"We have been there, seen it, done it. We have Nev who is the best TV pundit in Britain, maybe the world, so he knows about analysing it when he sits there and watches things. Why shouldn't he help the manager or the coaches?
"Then you've got Ryan [Giggs] who was the manager of a national team, you have [Paul] Scholesy who is one of the best players ever, who is very knowledgeable about football as well, and there is me, Phil [Neville] and [David] Becks - we need to help.
"It is not fair to just sit there. I remember us getting beat and sitting there was all of us, Roy Keane sat there and Sir Alex [Ferguson] sat there every now and again, so there is a lot of pressure and you have to help them [the managers]."
Butt understands that there is a long way to go to even be promoted from the fourth tier but he was adamant that the goal remains to be promoted to the Premier League.
You can watch the first episode of the 'Class of '92 Full Time' documentary on Sunday, November 20 at 10pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Football.
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