The Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, meet during a Manchester United and Everton match.
N is for Neville brothers
By Danny Lambert. Friday, 13 July 2007.
With 141 England caps between them, today in the next installment of our England A to Z series, N is for the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.
The Neville Brothers have been part of the England senior squad for over a decade thanks to their consistent performances and huge work-rate for both club and country.
Phil is the younger of the brothers and made his England debut against China in 1996; he has since gone on to win 56 caps and was included in the European Championship squad in 1996, 2000 and 2004, although he has never been part of a World Cup squad.
His versatility to be able to play at right and left full-back, and more recently in central midfield, means that he has been a regular announcement in England squads with his longest spell in the first team coming under Kevin Keegan.
The elder Neville brother, Gary, has also played a prominent part in the national team and won the first of his 86 England caps in 1995 against Japan. He has made the full-back role his own since then and is currently one cap behind Kenny Sansom in the list of appearances at right back for England.
Gary has played under five England managers and has played at least once for his country in each of the last thirteen years. Another statistic is that he is the most capped outfield player not to have scored a goal for the Three Lions, concentrating instead on his defensive responsibilities.
By taking their combined appearances for England to 141 in 2007, the Neville siblings equalled the most capped brothers, Jack and Bobby Charlton.
Furthermore, with 31 starts together, they have started the most games of any pair of brothers ever for England.
Both have captained England, though only for part of a match; Gary at Euro 2004 and Phil in a friendly match.
In August 2005, when Phil moved to Everton, the brothers played against each other for the first time in their professional careers and continue to challenge for places in the England line-up more than a decade after their debuts.