Inside soccer legends’ quest to grow American fandom with US-focused show

It can be so basic, Gary Neville believes.

It should be, Rebecca Lowe agrees. 

That’s where the true magic emerges. 

Anyone with even a faint interest in the Premier League or soccer as a whole has very likely seen and heard both on television as central parts of the sport’s coverage on the biggest outlets.

But now they want to be heard in a different way.

Viewed through a different lens.

Connected with fans through a different medium. 

And, most notably, to bring the beautiful game to a newer, growing audience. 

So Neville and Lowe, along with Jamie Carragher, have teamed up for “It’s Called Soccer,” a new digital show about the sport designed for American fans.

“What we do here, I just think it’s a case of: press record, let us speak and press stop. It’s really simple,” Neville told The Post in a wide-ranging sit-down interview along with Lowe at the Spotify studios in downtown Manhattan. “And I love the simplicity of what we do. Sometimes, when you’re on television, you’re waiting around for three hours for the game to start. You’re in very restricted timeframes — you have three minutes to speak or you have two minutes to speak. You’re kind of quite compartmentalized. I love the freedom of being able to press record, everything is recorded, and press stop. And then it goes out. 

“I like the idea that we can just have a conversation about the sport that we love. It takes it back to, in England, the old adage was that you went down to the pub with your mates, you talk about football, you have a conversation, you have a debate, you have an argument — ‘who should we play, should we sack him?’ And that’s what it is. That’s what football is. I just love that idea.” 

That the trio want to expand into America is significant. 

Neville is a Manchester United and England legend.

He spent his entire 20-year career with Manchester United, winning eight Premier League titles and two Champions league titles with the club.

He served as captain for five years.

Neville was also the starting right back for England for over 10 years, playing at two World Cups and three European Championships. 

Carragher is a Liverpool legend who spent his entire 17-year career with the team, winning a Champions league title.

He represented England at two World Cups and a European Championship. 

Both Neville and Carragher have since become two of the sport’s top on-air analysts and personalities since retiring. 

And Lowe is central to NBC’s Premier League coverage in the United States as the network’s studio host. 

All three help frame how millions of fans around the world consume soccer.

And they see America as the sport’s next frontier. 

The show (co-produced and distributed by Buzz16 and Wave Sports And Entertainment) is part of Neville’s media channel The Overlap’s venture into the United States.  

“I think it was time,” Lowe said. “The World Cup is coming. Also, the Premier League now has gotten to a point which I didn’t think I would see 10 years ago. It was like ‘hang on a second, there’s a market there. It’s not being served enough.’ There’s space for more. 

“With the world of social media, everything is more reachable. Mo Salah is more reachable through social media. He doesn’t look like this figure in a far-off country that you can’t have any affiliation with. And the product does the work for us. It’s just the most incredible league. If it was a rubbish league, it wouldn’t be catching on. The content and the product itself does the job, which attracts the people.”

They believe this platform allows them to be their true, authentic selves. 

Neville wishes that television cameras would pick up what the crew says off-air, because “it’s the most interesting stuff.”

This show, he hopes, is as close to that dynamic as possible. 

And viewers, they stress, are better off for it. 

“It feels like less of a performance,” Neville said. “Whereas when you go on television you have to think about what you wear, you have to have your makeup on, you have to have your hair done, you got this big production around you. You have to come in at a certain time to speak, then you get told to stop. All that formality is gone. I think I’ve become less formal as I’ve sort of moved through my career. I feel like I’m liking the informal approach.”

“I think we as humans try to create the next best thing, try to overcomplicate things,” Lowe added. “But when I sit and listen to podcasts, sometimes I catch myself thinking ‘I’m listening to two women just having a chat like they’d have on the phone. Why am I loving this so much?’ And I think it’s because of simplicity, it’s connection – you want normal. Especially in an age of social media when a lot of people don’t appear normal, they appear to have an amazing life, you just want to hear normality. I think we try to press record, talk about football, press stop. As long as you’re normal within those boundaries and you touch on interesting things, it works.”

Just 12 episodes in, the American focus is noticeable. 

Already, they’ve had former USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann, current USMNT star Antonee Robinson, former USWNT legend Brandi Chastain, longtime NFL star Josh Norman and current USWNT manager Emma Hayes on the show. 

Still in its infancy, if they have one goal for the show, what would it be?

“To still be going in five years,” Neville said. “If something lasts, that’s the ultimate test. Longevity is underestimated.”