Man Utd legends visibly emotional as historic second squandered
Manchester United legends Sir David Beckham and Gary Neville were watching on from the Wembley stands as their Salford City side were beaten by Notts County in the League Two play-off final
David Beckham watching Salford City lose at Wembley(Image: Getty)
Sir David Beckham and Gary Neville could only look on helplessly as Salford City were defeated by Notts County in the Sky Bet League Two play-off final. Following their takeover by the ‘Class of 92’ in 2014, the Ammies secured four promotions across five campaigns, yet they’ll be staying put in League Two for another season.
Manchester United legends Beckham and Gary Neville formed part of a fresh consortium that finalised a takeover at Salford just over a year ago, after Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville offloaded their stakes.
However, they were left watching helplessly from the Wembley stands as Martin Paterson’s team clinched promotion to the third tier.
Alassana Jatta broke the deadlock shortly after the half-hour mark before Lucas Ness doubled the advantage just before the interval. Jodi Jones then sealed victory for the Magpies with a third goal 20 minutes from full-time, reports the Express.
The outcome caps off a frustrating season for Salford, who squandered their opportunity to clinch automatic promotion on the campaign’s final day.
With Cambridge United having been held by Crewe Alexandra, had Salford managed to overcome Crawley Town, they would have claimed third spot and booked their League One berth, but like the U’s, they were forced to settle for a goalless stalemate. Salford’s nearest previous attempt at securing promotion to League One occurred three years ago when they were eliminated from the play-offs at the semi-final stage by Stockport County.
Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s clash, Ammies manager Karl Robinson confessed: “It is the biggest game in the club’s history. We appreciate that and the narrative around that is incredibly important, but Salford as a city is really unique.
“They remain faithful to their principles and what we’ve attempted to discover is a reliability in our squad and how we carry ourselves. That typically serves you well. This is an enchanting venue, but it can become the bleakest location if fortune doesn’t favour you.”
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