Sports editorGary Lineker's final game in English football was in May 1992, a few months before Gary Neville made his debut for Manchester United.
But while two of England's most capped internationals never crossed paths on the pitch, they have since emerged as rivals in business.
Lineker and Neville are now two of the biggest players in a rapidly changing media industry, each with their own digital empires, via their Goalhanger and Overlap platforms respectively.
So what lies behind this phenomenon? Is it the future of sports media? And which of them is winning? BBC Sport takes a closer look.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Lineker scored 48 goals in 80 games for England during his playing career
The recent acquisition by Neville's 'The Overlap' network of United influencer Mark Goldbridge's YouTube channels was a reminder of the influence the former Manchester United defender-turned Sky pundit now wields in football's media industry.
"We are building what we believe will become one of the most exciting independent football communities in the world - one that gives fans direct, personality-led content," said co-chair Neville at the time.
Having co-founded the sports entertainment production company Buzz16 a decade ago, Neville launched YouTube platform The Overlap in 2021.
Featuring the long-form discussion show 'Stick to Football', alongside interviews and fan debates, and sponsored by Skybet, it went on to become one of the UK's most popular football content channels, claiming 2.2 billion views across all platforms in 2025, and with ambitions to become the "biggest non-live football platform in the world".
With Buzz16 also producing content for a range of broadcasters, including the BBC's WSL coverage, and TNT's rugby union programming, the Overlap has branched out into cricket and rugby spin-offs, and even secured live Bundesliga rights.
This year a majority stake in the business was sold to Global - one of Europe's biggest commercial radio companies.
And a few weeks later came the deal with content-creator Goldbridge, a former policeman whose real name is Brent di Cesare.
Largely known for viral clips of his expletive-laden rants during streamed 'watchalongs' of United matches, his two YouTube channels have amassed 3.7 million subscribers.
Buzz16 generated £11.6m in revenue last year. But that is short of the £14m that Goalhanger - the production powerhouse co-founded by former BBC Match of the Day presenter Lineker in 2014 - was reported to have earned from a deal with Netflix.
It meant the streaming giant will show Lineker's 'The Rest Is Football' podcast each day from a studio in New York during this summer's World Cup.
With 250,000 paying members, Goalhanger claims it gets more than 75 million downloads of its podcasts each month, and reportedly had profits of more than £3m in the second half of 2024.
Last year it partnered with DAZN to be able to show action from the Club World Cup, and also has a three-year deal with Spain's La Liga, with rights to weekly clips. It has also secured minority investment from a private equity company, as it seeks US expansion and new formats.
Like Neville, Lineker's network has developed spin-offs, but the Goalhanger brand extends well beyond sport.
At the time of writing, its various podcasts dominate the top 40 of the Spotify podcast charts with its shows on politics (1st, 8th and 11th), history (6th), entertainment (9th) football (13th), and science (38th).
The Overlap's Stick to Football is at 17th. On Apple's charts, Goalhanger enjoyed an even tighter grip with the top four podcasts.