Gary Neville: How full-backs have evolved over time

Having won the Premier League eight times as a full-back, Gary Neville gives an insight into how the position has changed over time, from serving others to being key man.

To be a full-back today is a lot more difficult than 20 years ago, and probably 20 years before that too, for a number of reasons.

The changes in the rules of the game make it difficult. If you think about our treatment of Jose Antonio Reyes here with Arsenal in 2004, we were able to be really aggressive against him, put him off his game and stop him in his tracks. Today, I’d have been sent off. If a full-back treated a winger like that, he’d be sent off. But the change in rules is right.

The changes in the rules of the game make it difficult. If you think about our treatment of Jose Antonio Reyes here with Arsenal in 2004, we were able to be really aggressive against him, put him off his game and stop him in his tracks. Today, I’d have been sent off. If a full-back treated a winger like that, he’d be sent off. But the change in rules is right.