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Gary Neville has been labelled a 'traitor' by furious football fans following his 'angry middle-aged white men' rant against those who brandish Union Jack flags 'in a negative fashion'.
Neville, 50, has drawn criticism after accusing the nation's flag-wavers of fostering division in Britain in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur terror attack at a Manchester synagogue, in which two Jewish worshippers were killed by Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie.
Neville said: 'I just kept thinking as I was driving home last night that we're all being turned on each other. And the division that's being created is absolutely disgusting. Mainly created by angry, middle-aged white men, who know exactly what they're doing.'
On Tuesday evening, fans targeted the Sky Sports pundit's flagship hotel, Hotel Football, as well as his football club, Salford City, to demonstrate against the Manchester United legend's views, which were shared in a video on LinkedIn.
Fans were seen holding a banner which read 'Gary Neville. Traitor scum. Own goal Nev' outside the hotel, which overlooks Old Trafford, while others were filmed tying Union Jack flags to nearby lamposts - with Neville revealing he had ordered a flag to be torn down from his £400million construction site.
Later, the same banner was seen at the Peninsula Stadium, home of League Two side Salford City which Neville co-owns with David Beckham, during the team's 3-1 victory over Stockport County.
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has been labelled a 'traitor' and 'scum' following his 'angry middle-aged white men' video
Neville's flagship hotel and football club were targeted by fans on Tuesday evening, who held a banner and tied Union Jack flags to nearby lamposts
Neville (above) has sparked a backlash after his comments on the Manchester synagogue attack descended into a rant about 'angry middle-aged white men' raising Union flags
The protests follow backlash from construction workers working at Neville's St Michael's office redevelopment site in Bootle Street, Manchester.
One worker accused Neville, who has become a property developer since he stopped playing football, of being unpatriotic and suppressing free speech.
He said that the former England footballer saw the Union Flag as he walked past, and immediately went to the gate and asked to speak to the construction site manager over the radio system, so he could demand it was taken down.
The employee exclusively told the Daily Mail: 'He was walking past when he saw the flag flying on the fifth floor along with a Moldovan flag and another one.
'He got on the radio to one of the workers and started asking why the Union Flag was up there. He only mentioned the Union Flag, not the other two – and said it had to come down.
'Obviously he is the boss, and we are not going to argue with him. But Union Flags are normally put on building sites. It happens all over the country.
'Gary Neville played for England, but he won't let us put a flag up to celebrate the country where we live. It's caused a lot of anger. This wasn't discussed, we were just told.'
Neville, who earns £1.1m-a-year as a pundit on Sky Sports, will face no action from the broadcaster following his video.
Neville has faced taunts of being a 'champagne socialist' - though has described himself as 'a capitalist' and 'entrepreneurial businessman who likes to make a profit'
Neville's enterprises have included Hotel Football (pictured), a luxury hotel overlooking Old Trafford, and The Stock Exchange Hotel near Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester
He also co-owns Salford City Football Club with former Man United teammate David Beckham
That decision has enraged his former colleague Matt Le Tissier, who claims he was dismissed by the same network after refusing to wear a Black Lives Matter badge and his views on the Covid pandemic.
‘He’s basically attacked the demographic of people that are paying his wages, which is a bit strange,' Le Tissier told students at Southampton Solent University.
‘I think it depends on what side of the argument you fall on and whether your side of the argument suits the agenda of the current media.
'Which I think, you know, for the large part is very left leaning, so if you’re slightly right leaning you won’t be given the good graces to make mistakes other people will be given.'
In a separate post on social media, Le Tissier wrote: 'Watch the media go after Gary Neville after his video………. Oh no, he’s in the WEF club so they’ll leave him alone.'
The former Southampton striker was also accused of putting lives at risk after sharing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories in 2021 and was later met with a fierce backlash on social media after spreading contentious views on the war in Ukraine.
Neville spoke about the so-called Operation Raise the Colours campaign to publicly fly England and Union Flags from lamp posts as he spoke of his sadness about the Yom Kipper attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Greater Manchester.
The deadly knife and car rampage by Islamic terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie left two worshippers dead and three others seriously injured on Friday. One of the dead was shot dead when a police bullet passed through a door which he was holding from the inside
Some viewers have called for Gary Neville to go from Sky Sports following his new comments
Former pundit Matt Le Tissier, left, claimed Neville had 'attacked the demographic of people that are paying his wages'
Neville said: 'The division that is being created is absolutely disgusting, mainly created by angry middle-aged white men who know exactly what they are doing.'
The pundit added in his video, which he posted last Friday: 'Funnily enough, on one of my development sites last week, there was a Union Jack flag put up, and I took it down instantly.
'Some people might be watching this and thinking, "Gary you are not very patriotic". I played for my country 85 times and love my country. I love Manchester and I love England.
'But I have been building in this city for 15 or 20 years, and there has been no one put a Union Jack flag up in the last 15 or 20 years, so why do you need to put one up now?
'It is quite clearly sending a message to everybody that there is something you don't like. The Union Jack flag being used in a negative fashion is not right.
'I am a proud supporter of England, and Great Britain, and our country and would champion it anywhere in the world as being one of the greatest places to live.
'But I think we need to check ourselves… and start to think ourselves back to a neutral point because we are being pulled right and left.'
Neville's comments about the flag-raising campaign which has been linked to protests outside asylum hotels have been widely criticised on social media.
Some people called for him to be sacked as a pundit by Sky Sports while others accused him of being as a 'champagne socialist'.
Neville, who has long been dubbed 'Red Nev' due to his Left-wing views and support of trade unionists, is said to have built a business empire worth an estimated £100million, largely through a lucrative series of property investments.
Building work on his latest St Michael's project being run by his development company Relentless began in 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2027. It is to create new offices, apartments, a hotel as well as bars, restaurants and cafes.
