Gary Neville hits back at Rickie Lambert in bizarre social media spat

Gary Neville hits back at Rickie Lambert in a bizarre social media spat over plans for an independent football regulator.

Rickie Lambert criticised Neville for supporting the government’s plan for an independent football regulator, accusing him of backing a “corrupt government’s plan”.

Neville, who has been a long-time advocate for the independent regulator, dismissed Lambert’s accusations as “scaremongering” and “misinformation”.

Ever since he hung up his boots, Lambert has been known to cause a stir with some rather controversial takes and conspiracy theories online, last year claiming that by talking positively to water, it would instantly make it cleaner. Yep, really, see more on that HERE.

Well now, amid reports the reports that England and English football teams could be removed from UEFA competitions including Euro 2028 should the government presses ahead with plans to introduce the regulator, Neville posted on Twitter.

He said: “I don’t post much anymore but feel the need to on this subject. Please don’t be fooled by the scaremongering regarding the independent regulator and England losing tournaments. They will do anything to stop it coming in and are happy to create misinformation and apply soft power in the right places in the meantime. The Regulator will have no impact at all on the quality of the Premier League yet will importantly protect the wider game and pyramid. England will also not lose hosting tournaments, but even if they did it’s more important that we protect the entirety of English club football than getting a tournament every 50 years.”

Lambert took to slam G Nev for his views on the planned independent football regulator (IFR) in England.

Rickie then wrote: “They will do anything to stop it coming in and are happy to create misinformation and apply soft power in the right places in the meantime. The Regulator will have no impact at all on the quality of the Premier League yet will importantly protect the wider game and pyramid. England will also not lose hosting tournaments, but even if they did it’s more important that we protect the entirety of English club football than getting a tournament every 50 years.”

“It’s becoming clear exactly who and what you are @GNev2,” tweeted Lambert, who these days in an academy coach at Wigan Athletic.

“Instead of using the footballing community to come together and stop what is being implemented onto us, you are using your position to try and persuade them to accept the corrupt, cowardly shadow governments plan to destroy our way of life and society.”

Neville replied: “You okay Rickie?”.

 Lambert responded: “I’m good Gary, you seen what your mates doing to this country? Why would you let them anywhere near our game?”

A Twitter user replied to Lambert and pointed out Neville was only talking about an independent regulator and had not mentioned the government.

Lambert added: ‘Just like the independent Covid enquiry!’

A letter was recently sent to the UK’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, with European football’s governing body UEFA concerned about the proposed IFR in English football.

The IFR, part of the Football Governance Bill, is something Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled back in July, with the hope of improving financial stability in football and preventing clubs from joining breakaway competitions like the failed European Super League.

But it seems UEFA regulations state there should be no government interference in the running of football.

A UK government spokesperson said: “The Football Governance Bill will establish a new Independent Football Regulator that will put fans back at the heart of the game, and tackle fundamental governance problems to ensure that English football is sustainable for the benefit of the clubs’ communities going forward.”

A message from sources at Uefa and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on Sunday meanwhile says the independent football regulator (IFR) will not jeopardise England’s participation at Euro 2028 or Premier League clubs playing in Europe, despite reports to the contrary.

Uefa sources insist that the letter from its general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, had actually been mostly positive and that its main concern was less about the independent football regulator and more about the extent of its powers.

The Guardian say they have seen Theodoridis’s letter, which stresses that it was “encouraged by the intent of the original fan-led review”. Though they remind Lisa Nandy that the intention was that “this regulatory area should be returned to the FA [Football Association] in time”.

Uefa are mostly worried about the potential for “scope creep” within the IFR.

“While the initial intent of the IFR is to oversee the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets, there is always a risk that, once established, the IFR may expand its mandate beyond these areas,” the letter states.

“This expansion, intentional or otherwise, into broader aspects of football governance could undermine the established structures and processes of the sport, and amount to government interference.

“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition. The ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from Uefa and teams from competition.”

However, Uefa sources stressed to the Guardian that these reported threats would be a last resort extremely unlikely. DCMS played down fears of such a punishment, and campaign group Fair Game, who have long called for an overhaul in football governance, also dismissed concerns of a potential sanction for English football.

Chief executive, Niall Couper, said: “The DCMS have been over this ground a hundred times. This is nothing short of a scare story.

“With 58% of the top 92 [clubs in England] technically insolvent, annual losses of £10m a year in the Championship viewed as a success, football is an industry in desperate need of financial reform. The government should not be derailed by such nonsense.”

The FSA, Football Supporters’ Association said: “We are confident there’s no risk to England’s participation in tournaments – for all the slightly lurid headlines, the regulator will be fully independent of the government as it aims to strengthen financial sustainability, improve supporter engagement and prevent the participation of clubs in a breakaway European Super League.”