The model professional - Phil Neville
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While many footballers hit the town on a Saturday night, risking the wrath of the paparazzi and tabloid front pages, Phil Neville is most likely sitting at home eating a Chinese - the one "treat" he will allow himself each week - and watching Match of the Day. In an era when excess is rife among players and Premier League stars are as reviled for their behaviour off the pitch as they are revered for their displays on it, the Everton captain's dedication to his profession is refreshing.
Neville has been competing in English football's top flight for 16 years, the first ten of which were as part of Sir Alex Ferguson's golden generation. In a decade at Manchester United, the defender-cum-midfielder picked up six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the Champions League as a member of the legendary Treble winners of 1999.
In the summer of 2005, Neville bade farewell to Old Trafford and travelled up the M62 to Everton, where the tremendous work ethic that had characterised his career helped him flourish under David Moyes, a manager cut from the same cloth as his former boss. Moyes quickly identified in Neville the leadership qualities that had made him captain of United's 1995 FA Youth Cup-winning side and he was appointed Toffees' skipper in only his second season at the club. Six years later, he is still captain.
Neville's football education at United instilled in him a will to win that has never wavered throughout his career, as well as the principles of hard work and meticulous preparation that still govern his approach to football at the age of 34. The former England international is what most would describe as a model professional but, while he never enjoys hearing about players who attract negative press for their lavish lifestyles, Neville accepts that differences in personality are impossible to avoid.
"It does frustrate me but I also understand that if you get a squad of 20 players, not everybody can be the same - the best teams have a varied make-up of players," Neville tells ESPNsoccernet. "My strength throughout my career has been my professionalism and the fact that I've done the right things 90% of the time, and hopefully people have learnt from that. But then there's other players I've played with, someone like Dwight Yorke for example, who have done things more spontaneously and are more off the cuff. That was his character and his special quality and he helped the team in his own way.
"Not everyone can be the same but we are role models and I do think it's important we try to do the right things 99% of the time. I've got a son now who plays football and I never realised the effect players have on kids. From goal celebrations to the way they act on the pitch to the boots they wear, children look up to us and I think it's so important that we do portray a good image."
Every inch a family man, Neville is bursting with pride when discussion turns to older brother Gary, who decided to bring his 19-year career to an end in February. The Everton captain reveals that his sibling thought long and hard about retirement and insists that the timing of the announcement ensured Gary's reputation has been preserved.
"It wasn't a surprise at all to me because it wasn't just a decision that happened overnight," Neville explains. "It was a gradual thing - over a six-month period he realised that he had come to the end of the road. He made a really brave decision: he had got to the point where injuries had caught up with him and I think when you've been playing for 20 years you just get tired.
"He could have gone on until the end of the season, but he said enough is enough - he's had a great career and it's time for somebody else to take over. I think he should be applauded for his timing because some players drift down the leagues and you forget how good they were, but I think everyone remembers Gary now for how great a player he has been and he had the full backing of me and the family. We all understood his decision."
Gary has since been tipped for a coaching role at Old Trafford and, while Phil has no plans to follow him in hanging up his boots anytime soon, he says the thought of them working together again in the future has crossed his mind. And the younger Neville says that even the prospect of working under his brother doesn't faze him.
"I think when you've got an older brother you tend to take orders from him for most of your life so I'd say that wouldn't be a problem! But, seriously, I would love to work with my brother again. It was something that, when I left Man United, I realised I had perhaps taken for granted a little bit in the earlier part of my career. Everything I did was with my brother and when I came to Everton there was a large void left in my life because I wasn't going to work with him every day.
"It was maybe a good thing that we played for different clubs for a few years but I do miss not being in the same environment as him because we are very close. We both love football and maybe one day we could be managing against each other or even working together. When the time comes, coaching is something that I do want to get involved in and study hard for. Hopefully the fact that I love watching, playing and being a part of it will help me, but I know it won't be a walk in the park. I've got no God-given right to be a success at it and I will have to work as hard as I have at my playing career."
For now, Neville is still keeping all his focus on life at Everton - though his brother's retirement, coupled with the advancing years of some famous former team-mates, has certainly brought into focus the transience of his playing career.
"Even though Gary's retired and Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, myself, David Beckham and Nicky Butt are all probably coming to the end of our careers, I always still think of us as 'Fergie's Fledglings', who came through the ranks together. That's the way I still feel and even playing now, when we have piggy-in-the-middle in training and they say 'youngest in the middle', I still think it should be me even though I'm probably one of the oldest!
"Obviously there's days when you wake up and think, 'Dear me, there's not long left in this body' but then you go out on the training pitch and feel great. I think, when you get to our age, you don't look too far ahead, maybe just looking at the next six months rather than the next six years, but as long as you keep enjoying it, which I am, you keep going for as long as you possibly can."
Neville's move to Goodison Park six years ago undoubtedly breathed fresh life into his career and while many players - the likes of Dwight Yorke, Lee Sharpe and Andrei Kanchelskis immediately spring to mind - struggle to deal with life after United, the Bury-born defender has thrived at Everton. He made more than 30 appearances in each of his first four seasons at the club, a feat he achieved just once at United
"I think I left United at the right time. Alex Ferguson told me it was the right time to go and try a new adventure; I agreed with him and I joined a great club. I've had the most amazing six years here. It seems like yesterday I was making my debut against Villarreal. Players leave Manchester United and they drift away but I've enjoyed these six years as much as I enjoyed the 14 years at Manchester United. I think you get out what you put in and I've put my heart and soul into this move. I wanted it to be a success and it has been - I hope I will always be welcome back here when my career is finished."
Interest in Neville from Tottenham in January looked like it may signal the end of his Goodison Park career, but the club rejected the advances out of hand. He says the offer came as a bit of a surprise but maintains that a Fernando Torres-style transfer request was never on the cards. His manager was particularly angry by bids that he labelled "insulting" and, as soon as Moyes said he wanted his captain to stay, there was never going to be any other outcome. Neville's belief in the Scot and his principles is unerring and it appears that, in Moyes, he has found a kindred spirit.
The club discussed Tottenham's interest with me and I left it up to them to make the decision. It was obviously flattering but it was also flattering that David Moyes didn't want me to go. I'm captain of a club I love playing for so I respected Everton's wishes and got on with playing football. As much as you want to play Champions League football, you have to show loyalty to the club and the manager who has done so much for me.
"David Moyes is the catalyst, the engine that drives everybody forward, and he is the one who gets the players motivated when they're down. He has an unbelievable drive, work ethic and will to succeed - he is a fighter and a fantastic manager who wants to bring success to Everton. To be honest, it was because of him that I joined the club. From the very first time I spoke to him, our relationship has got better and better - he is the driving force behind me at Everton and the club itself."