Gary Neville gave a passionate rant on Friday Night Football on Sky Sports last night on the potential of Derby County being forced into liquidation.
The latest news coming out of Derby is that they may be days away from potential liquidation with administrators hoping to secure funding to keep the club operational while they continue their efforts to secure a takeover at Pride Park.
The Championship club have been in administration since the beginning of the season, when owner Mel Morris calling in business advisory firm Quantuma to oversee the club's affairs after failing to transfer ownership of the Rams to a new custodian.
Neville had promised to touch on the Derby situation earlier in the week, and backed it up on Friday night, admitting his seething frustration that Derby fans were at the stage of pleading for their club's future on social media.
Neville's mother was company secretary at Bury for over 20 years and he began his rant by reflecting on them going bust earlier this decade.
Gary Neville's passionate rant in full
The former Manchester United defender said: "It feels like history is repeating itself from a few years ago.
"My Mum took the call on a sorry Tuesday night from the EFL to tell her that Bury had gone bust a few years ago and that was it, they were done.
"Someone at Derby will take that call in a few weeks' time unless something big doesn't happen.
"If Woolworths goes into administration nobody wants to buy it, it goes bust.
"If nobody wants to buy Derby in the next couple of weeks or months, however long that moment is... they will go bust. It is inconceivable that this can continue.
"No one can save Derby at this moment of time other than a buyer coming in. And that's going to be damned hard work.
"There isn't the regulation for football to step in and stop Mel Morris doing what he's been going in the past few years.
"The owner of Derby has committed to costs that he can't afford or he's not willing to fulfil. he doesn't just do that, he then walks away with the stadium. It's horrific.
"Football clubs need to be treated like grade-one listed buildings and not like normal businesses on the street that are subjected to normal market conditions. We have to change the modelling in English football to stop this happening.
"We'll continue to see more Derby's, more Bolton's, more Wigan's, more Macclesfield's, more Bury's... some will survive, some will fall by the wayside. There is a way forward in the future if we can get this through Parliament in the next 12-18 months.
"There will be more financial monitoring, owners will have to fulfil the costs their committing to, they'll have to do that.
"At the moment I feel desperate for Derby fans, they are waiting and can't do anything about it because there are tens of millions of pounds needed to save that football club."
He added: "Football clubs need to be treated differently then every other business in this country.
"Derby has a rich history of great managers and great players.
"Now tonight they are powerless and helpless to do anything about their club.
"Not just the fans, but the authorities and Government are powerless to step in and do anything other than try to find a suitable buyer.
"It is madness what is happening and we've got to stop it. I don't know how to help Derby other than plead with someone to try and buy it and allow regulations to change in the next 12-18 months.
"This is has got to change. It's beyond whatever the final straw would be. It's more important than football because the reality of Derby going under and not being a football club anymore is inconceivable."
