Salford City FC owners- Class of 92 who own Greater Manchester club ahead of Man City FA Cup trip

Manchester City welcome League Two Salford City to the Etihad Stadium in a match that will have Salford dreaming of an upset. The pair meet in the third round of the FA Cup with a 5.45pm kick off.

Salford have before this season enjoyed a steady rise up to the football league, and this season they look ready to go all out for promotion. A run of eight wins in their last nine in all competitions has the club third in the division and the cup tie at Man City should be a great day out that reminds us the magic of the cup is still alive.

The ownership of Salford City is an aspect of this fixture that should have a few eye brows raised. The side are partially owned by several players who were part of Man Utd’s iconic ‘Class of 92’. Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes, David Beckham all own 10% each of the football club.

When did the Class of 92 players buy shares at Salford City?

All of the above players apart from David Beckham bought their percentage of Salford City back in 2014. The takeover by the group, called the Project 92 Limited consortium, was announced on March 27 2014.

On the same day Singaporean businessman Peter Lim bought a 50% stake in the club. He later confirmed that he would work as a business partner to Gary Neville.

Five years later, in 2019, David Beckham bought 10% of the ownership from Lim meaning that the former Man Utd players have owned the majority of the club since. Following the takeover by the consortium, Ryan Giggs suggested they wanted Championship football within 10 years at Salford City FC.

Salford City honours under The Class of 92 ownership

In the 10 years The Class of 92 have owned Salford City, the club has been promoted four times. They also won the EFL Trophy in the 2019-20 campaign- their first season in League Two.

The closest they’ve come to another promotion was 2022-23. The club lost to Stockport County in the play-off semi finals. This season and ahead of the Etihad trip, Salford are third having won 12 out of 24 league matches.

Have Man City and Salford ever played each other?

The cup tie will be historic in the sense that it will be the first ever meeting between Man City and Salford City. This is only Salford’s third meeting with Premier League opposition having lost to Everton 3-0 in 2020 and 4-0 to Burnley in 2023.