Ammies taking on United's famous five

Five members of Manchester United’s ‘Class of 92’ are taking on Salford City in a preseason friendly as part of their takeover of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League’s Ammies.

Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, pictured, are all set to play at the AJ Bell Stadium - home of Sale Sharks rugby union team and rugby league side Salford Red Devils – on Thursday August 7 after returning from their tour of the United States with the Reds.

The five – all members of the United’s FA Youth Cup wining side of 1992 who went on to play at the highest levels – are aiming to establish an academy at the First Division North club to nurture talented young footballers in the North West and eventually take the Moore Lane outfit into the Football League.

Despite being the oldest member of the group, Giggs is the only one still playing. The Welshman, who is currently interim manager at Old Trafford following the sacking of David Moyes, is heavily involved in the Salford City project that has been driven by Gary Neville since making worldwide headlines in March when it was first announced.

Salford City Chairwoman Karen Baird, who announced the friendly on Friday, said that all the money raised from the match will go directly to the Ammies.

Baird said: "This will be an exciting start for the new season, for the players, the club and most of all the fans. We hope it will be a fun and entertaining evening for everyone whilst raising funds for the club."

A spokesman for CO92 group said: "We are really looking forward to the match, it will certainly be competitive and it will good to play with each other again. It's been a long time but more importantly, we will want to give Salford City a tough game."

He added: "We are going to ask some familiar faces to play with us and we are sure it will be an entertaining game for the fans of Salford City."

CO92's takeover deal is still subject to approval by the Football Association and the Evo-Stik NPL in the summer.

Image courtesy of the BBC