Gary Neville and David Beckham have always been good friends, but that doesn’t necessarily make them good roommates.
The two Manchester United legends came through the club’s academy together in 1991 and made the step up to the first team around the same time, meaning they were bed-fellows on overnight trips.
But according to Neville, the pair encountered some major problems while living together, which put their friendship to the test. “I lived with David Beckham for about six months and then living with players stopped completely because everyone went to their own rooms,” Neville told Sky Sports in 2020.
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“I think they found out that the players are incompatible with each other and that everyone goes to bed at different times. I had two big problems with Becks … I always went to bed at 9pm and got up at 5am, he stayed up until 11pm and wanted to get up at 8am.
“So basically he kept me awake from nine to eleven and then I woke him up at five in the morning. So it didn’t work at all.”
However, it wasn’t just that their sleeping patterns were out of sync. Neville explained that their lifestyles were completely different, making them completely incompatible as roommates.
“Secondly, he’s the cleanest person,” he said. “He goes into his room, lights candles, hangs pictures, everything has to be absolutely perfect, it’s been like that since he was 18. I just throw everything everywhere, so that didn’t work at all.”
“I talk all the time, argue all the time, and he was the complete opposite of that. He listened to music, he wanted peace and quiet, he wanted to relax, and that was just the complete opposite of where I was.”
Hotel tension aside, Neville and Beckham formed an electrifying duo on United’s right flank, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League together. In 2003, Beckham moved to Real Madrid, ending their partnership that had lasted over a decade.
Neville made over 600 appearances for the Red Devils, picking up two more Premier League titles, three League Cups, an FA Cup and another Champions League trophy before retiring in 2011. Beckham, meanwhile, won La Liga with Real before moving to La Galaxy in 2007. He later spent time on loan at AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in 2013.
