KEY POINTS

  • The former England international currently turns out for Bengaluru Royals at the Premier Futsal.
  • Scholes says the Bangalore based outfit did not "play really well" in the 2016 Premier Futsal.

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes remains hopeful that Salford City can make it to the second or the third tier of English football in the next 10 years.

The former England international is the co-owner of Salford, along with other United legends, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, each of whom own 10% stake in the club. The remaining 50% is owned by Singaporean business magnate Peter Lim.

Salford are currently in the National League North, which is the sixth tier of English football. A promotion would help them make it to the National League. The Ammies are currently second in the table with 29 points after 12 games, level on points with the leaders Harrogate Town.

"We will take it season by season. It's quite a low level in England. But, it is something we all are interested in taking as high as possible. We are in the sixth tier of English football and we are trying to get into the second or third tier in the next five to 10 years," Scholes told IBTimes UK.

"We know, It's difficult. It's going to cost a lot of money on the way as well. It's something that we are passionate about and it is a local club for us. Hopefully, we can do well with it."

Scholes remains hopeful that Salford can emulate Huddersfield and achieve a promotion to the Premier League in the future. Huddersfield Town made it to the Premier League for the first time after beating Reading in last season's Championship play-off final.

"Huddersfield is a bigger club than Salford. It's a good example. Anything is possible. I live in Oldham and they used to be in the Premier League. It is very, very small club. Fingers crossed, we could get that level. Will we ever get there? I am not too sure," he explained.

Scholes is currently plying his trade at the Premier Futsal, which is world's biggest futsal promotion company founded by Indian entrepreneurs Abhinandan Balasubramanian, Dinesh Raj and Nithyashree Subban.

The former United midfielder is the marquee player for Bengaluru Royals, who have impressed in the second edition of the Premier Futsal. In the debut season, the Bangalore-based franchise struggled as they failed to win a match last term. Scholes explains how things have changed so far this season for the Royals.

"We just didn't play really well last season. The team we got this year has been very good and got some really good players. We managed to score good goals this season," the ex-England midfielder stressed.

Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes is representing Bengaluru Royals at the Premier Futsal Getty