The following news article was added to www.red11.org/news on Wed Nov 12 @ 05:13:44 GMT
NEVILLE STANDS UP FOR FOOTBALL England and Manchester United midfielder Phil Neville has spoken out against football's tarnished image and admitted that millionaire players must do more to protect the reputation of the game. His views come after a nightmare autumn for football in which players have been linked to sex crime allegations, there has been bad behaviour on the pitch and Rio Ferdinand has failed to show up for a drugs test. "People look up to the top footballers and look at the way we conduct ourselves and it's important that we put across the right image. There's been a lot of negative press and a small minority have let football down. It's now up to everyone else to rally round to make people think good of us again," Neville said. Class act: Man Utd's Phil Neville took part in a football quiz at St John's RC Primary School - He cited England captain and former United team-mate David Beckman as the role model all players should emulate. "Footballers are the biggest role models and David Beckham is probably the most popular person in this country and there's no better or bigger role model than him. He's a family man with a wife and two children and he leads his lifestyle the right way and this is a person who can do anything in the world he wants to do," Neville said. "Despite the headlines there are a lot of players like that. At Man United the manager stresses how we handle ourselves off the field and Sven-Goran Eriksson demands respect from the players for hotel staff and everyone we meet. It's up to us to put that image across now because we do need to send out the right message. Because of the status of the game and the way it's grown we're there to be shot at now and we have let a few people down. It's up to us to build a few bridges," he said. The millionaire midfielder was speaking as he got a taste of "real life" at St John's RC Primary School in Chorlton, Manchester. Neville was in the classroom to promote the FA's "Up For The Cup" campaign, which is aimed at seven-to-11-year-olds. The project uses the FA Cup to promote numeracy and literacy and provides teaching resources covering other subjects such as history, geography and citizenship. Neville had plenty to say about the equivalent of his headmaster, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and the speculation about how long he will stay in the job. "I can't imagine United without him," he said. "A couple of years ago there was big talk that it was his last season and even then I didn't believe he was going to leave because you can tell the way he comes in every morning that he loves his job. "He's going be there at Old Trafford longer than us and I can't imagine a Man United team not being managed by Alex Ferguson, not for the foreseeable future, because of the influence he has on the club and all the players," Neville added. Schoolchildren were keen to hear about Neville's goal against Rangers in the Champions League and the player believes a good run in Europe for English clubs will increase the national side's chances of victory in next year's European Championship in Portugal. "If I continue to play consistently for United then the international honours will come. I'm playing regularly now, which breeds confidence, and if I keep my place then I should be there for England in 2004. I've been to the last two European Championships and I know what a great tournament it is and because of the young players we've got coming through I see no better time for us to win," Neville said. Neville, the celebrity footballer, was clearly enjoying his afternoon in the ordinary world. "It's only when I come into a class like this that I realise just how much I've achieved and how much kids look up to me," he said with a smile. sport.telegraph.co.uk http://www.red11.org/news ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/GtUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Subscription info WWW http://red11.org/list Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] = subscribe to the list. [EMAIL PROTECTED] = unsubscribe from the list. Post message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
