Gary Neville causes major stir online after claiming Manchester City are a smaller club than Tottenham | OneFootball

Manchester City fans have reacted in their numbers after Gary Neville claimed on Sky Sports at the weekend that Tottenham are a bigger club than the Etihad side.

The former Manchester United defender was speaking as part of Sky’s coverage of Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Ruben Amorim’s side, on an evening when the contest was marred by frustration and anger from home supporters.

Discontent over the running of the North London club has expanded into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with banners of protest showcased as part of a sit-in after the game, illustrating the extended period of time without silverware coming to the club.

That period without silverware success has been prevalent despite widespread investment in a state-of-the-art new stadium, exceptional training facilities, and on the playing squad itself. However, Spurs fans have been keen to highlight the 16 managers in 24 years.

Speaking in the aftermath of Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, on an evening when fan action towards chairman Daniel Levy was on full show, Gary Neville made bold claims live on air about the status of the side.

“Tottenham is a bigger club than Manchester City, let’s be really clear,” Neville said on Sky Sports on Sunday evening. “That’s not controversial. When Manchester City were taken over by Abu Dhabi, Tottenham were a far bigger football club.”

The former Manchester United defender and now Sky Sports-regular pundit continued, “So the idea that Tottenham, historically, have not been a bigger football club than Manchester City – absolutely they are!

“City, where they currently are, are right at the top of the game because they’ve invested in an amazing football project, done it brilliantly on and off the pitch. Daniel Levy has done it brilliantly off the pitch, he’s not done it brilliantly on the pitch, and that’s why he’s behind Manchester City.

“But Tottenham as a historic football club is bigger than Manchester City, that’s not a criticism; City have done incredibly well, an amazing football club now in terms of wins and everything. But Tottenham, historically, are a bigger club – let’s be clear.”

Manchester City fans have reacted to the comments in their numbers, disproving the claim through various methods and pointing out the historical advantages that City have had over Tottenham, too.

One user on X wrote, “At that point Tottenham still had zero premier leagues, zero champions leagues. To my knowledge still have the same, a billion pounds later.”

Another response from a Manchester City fan read, “As if he doesn’t understand when people say ‘history’ they don’t mean ‘They been floundering in the top league longer’.

“They mean trophies, amount, the status of the trophies won. Nobody has ever cared, ‘We’ve been in the top flight for 33 years and done nothing!'”