Gary Neville has shown no qualms in his quest to dominate his post-football career
Mark Goldbridge speaks
Mark Goldbridge and Gary Neville have joined forces despite previously feuding
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Gary Neville's ambition to establish dominance across the football media landscape has seen him strike a seven-figure deal with Mark Goldbridge, despite the pair having previously fallen out.
The Manchester United legend's company, The Overlap, has acquired Goldbridge's channels, The United Stand and That's Football. The 51-year-old has reinvented himself as a business heavyweight since hanging up his boots in 2011, with one of his most notable entrepreneurial achievements being The Overlap.
The media outfit is best recognised for its weekly podcast Stick to Football, featuring Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott. Consistently attracting over 1 million views, the company offloaded a majority stake to media giant Global earlier this year, with Neville keen to cement his position as the foremost content creation platform for all things football.
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The acquisition of Goldbridge's YouTube channels - which boast a combined following of 3.7m subscribers - was confirmed on Tuesday morning. Reflecting on the need to broaden their coverage in the wake of Ruben Amorim's dismissal in January, Neville outlined his vision to develop both platforms into the go-to destinations for Manchester United and wider football content.
He said: "We are building what we believe will become one of the most exciting Independent football communities in the world – one that gives fans direct, personality-led content.
Gary Neville speaks
The Manchester United icon has partnered with Mark Goldbridge(Image: Stick to Football)
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"The United Stand and That's Football are two of the best-known football channels on YouTube, and our intention is to develop them into the most compelling Manchester United and football news channels in the market."
Goldbridge - whose real name is Brent Di Cesare - has previously clashed with Neville, who maintained the content creator must continue to be critical of him following their reported seven-figure deal. "Mark has criticised me more than most, but we don't have to agree," Neville told Broadcast Sport.
"He knows what he does and he's got to carry on criticising me. That's how the world works." The former England defender has himself been guilty of taking aim at Goldbridge, having previously criticised "those bloody YouTubers".
Ruben Amorim arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Leeds United and Manchester United at Elland Road.
Ruben Amorim's sacking left Gary Neville believing a daily football news channel was missing from The Overlap(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
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Neville was once asked whether he'd welcome Goldbridge on to The Overlap, to which he later responded: "I think I said 'no", on Twitter [now X]. Someone will probably find that.
"And he's criticised me, quite heavily, in the last few years for my opinions on Manchester United. To be fair, we don't hold grudges between us. We don't take ourselves too seriously."
Hinting at The Overlap's plans to further expand their dominance across the podcasting landscape, Neville explained: "[We] need to go into discussions with other channels, but we're not in a rush. We'll wait for the right opportunities in the next six, 12, 18 months. I don't think of it as a media empire."
Speaking candidly about the next chapter in his content creation journey, Goldbridge said: "I've spent the last 10 years building The United Stand for Manchester United fans and That's Football for all fans, and I'm prouder of that than anything I've ever done.
"This deal is about what comes next. The Overlap has the ambition, the credibility, and the resources to help me take what I do to the next level."