David Beckham and Gary Neville were left heartbroken as Salford City were beaten 3-0 by Notts County in the League Two play-off final.
The two teams faced off at Wembley in scorching heat on Monday afternoon to conclude the EFL season.
Beckham and Neville, who are part of Salford’s ownership group, watched on, but they couldn’t inspire their side from afar as they were thrashed to ensure they will remain in the fourth tier for an eighth consecutive season.
The Ammies had only missed out on automatic promotion on the final day after they were held to a 0-0 draw by relegation-threatened Crawley, yet they beat Grimsby 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final following a dramatic second leg.
However, goals from Alassana Jatta, Lucas Ness and Jodi Jones on Monday meant Karl Robinson’s side failed in their quest to reach the third tier for the first time in Salford’s history.
Neville and Beckham were pictured looking glum in the stands in London, where they were joined by former Man United team-mate Paul Scholes.
David Beckham and Gary Neville looked glum as Salford City lost the League Two play-off final
Beckham shook the hands of the jubilant Notts County players at Wembley after full-time
Scholes was previously part of the Class of 92 ownership group at the club who were replaced by a new consortium led by Neville and Beckham last year.
Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Gary’s brother Phil Neville were also in the original group.
Former Lioness Jill Scott was similarly pictured at Wembley next to Neville and Beckham, who were both wearing suits.
The result means that Notts County will return to League One for the first time since 2015, and it is only three years since they were promoted back into the EFL after four seasons in the National League.
County’s players later celebrated their triumph next to Beckham and Neville given where their seats were at Wembley, with the former seen shaking hands with several members of the squad.
Meanwhile, speaking about the new ownership group last year, Beckham had revealed how involved he would be and outlined his ambitions for the club.
He said: ‘I will be over every big decision that’s made and every little decision that’s made.
It was a brutal end to the season for Salford after they also missed out on automatic promotion
‘That’s what my commitment is to Gary. It’s what my commitment is to the club. We’re definitely not doing it for a laugh and it’s also not for the romantic side of things.
‘Yes, we care about the club – but we’re doing it to win. We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level.
‘I always dream big so I’m always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.
‘The Championship is a league that we want to get in but it’s step by step. We want success very quickly but these things take time.’
