The English former soccer star Ben Thornley’s sister, Hannah Thornley, grew up as the youngest of three siblings in an English family.
Aside from being the sister of the former Manchester United player, she is also famous as the ex-fiancee of English soccer player-turned-pundit Gary Neville.
Hannah and Gary were together for several years before she dumped the latter for her childhood sweetheart.
Ben Thornley was teammates with his former brother-in-law, Gary; both played for the Red Devils.
Born in Bury, England, on April 21, 1975, Benjamin Lindsay Thornley played 18 years professionally, notably with English soccer clubs.
A youth and reserve team player for Manchester United, the winger made his senior team debut in 1993 & played through 1998.
Then, it would follow his stints in clubs like Huddersfield Town, Blackpool, Bacup Borough, Salford City, and Witton Albion.
Ben, who also had three caps in the England U21 team, retired from soccer in 2010. Currently, he works as a television commentator for MUTV.
Ben Thornley Sister: Who Is Hannah Thornley?
Thornley’s sister, Hannah Thornley, is one of three children of her parents, Philip Thornley and Elizabeth Thornley.
Besides her former soccer star brother Ben, she also has another brother, Rod Thornley, a former academy player at Manchester United.
Later, Rod became a certified massage therapist and worked at his brother Ben’s former team after Alex Ferguson recruited him in 2000.
Having worked 19 years at Manchester United FC until 2019, he now works for Arrentee Sports Management Ltd. (2022- present).
Hannah is the youngest of three kids, born in 1978. As of 2024, the London-born is 46 years old.
She has an age gap of three years with her oldest brother, Ben, 49, and is one year younger than Rod, 46.
Ben’s Sister Mistaken For Another Woman Of The Same Name
Some often mistake another woman named Hannah Thornley, who goes by the X (formerly Twitter) handle @hannahmay_93, as Ben’s sister.
She is the founder of Camden Bells FC, which aims to inclusive football team to trans & GNC (gender non-confirming people).
Even if she has some relation to soccer, she has no blood relation with the former Manchester United player.
Hannah Thornley Is The Ex-Fiance Of Gary Neville
Hannah, the youngest sister of Ben Thornley, was in a relationship with his Man United teammate Gary Neville, who is best friends with David Beckham.
As reported, she and Gary were in a relationship for six years and were even engaged.
However, in an unexpected turn of events, Hannah dumped him in the early 2000s, following Neville’s Treble with Manchester United in 1999.
It led to a breakdown that took a mental dip and a drop-off in his performance.
After more than two decades, Neville spoke of the heartbreak during The Daily Ketchup Podcast in December 2023.
He said, “I was engaged to her and it was my first sort of girlfriend for six years and you think you’re going to be with them forever and all of a sudden it’s over and you think that wasn’t supposed to happen. We were going to get married. For me, that was something for the best when I look back.”
Gary further added, “The girl that I’m talking about was the sister of one of my good friends,” who is none other than Ben Thornley.
Also, the former English soccer player added that their relationship went downhill when she moved to France for six months and met her childhood friend. And upon return, she ended their relationship.
Hannah reportedly dumped the Manchester United millionaire and began dating her friend-turned-partner Lee Howard.
But it seems that in the end, her relationship with Lee didn’t work either, as she later married a guy with the surname “Scott.” Her brother mentioned Hannah as “Hannah Scott (nee Thornley)” in his autobiography Tackled.
Who Is Gary Neville? What Is He Doing Now?
Neville, born on February 18, 1975, is a former English soccer star who played for The Red Devils from 1992 to 2011. He also represented England National Team in three European Championships and two World Cups.
After retirement, Gary worked as an assistant manager for the England national team from 2012 to 2016 and for La Liga club Valencia (2015-16).
The former right-back works as a commentator for Sky Sports.
As of now, Gary is the father of two kids with his wife, Emma Neville (nee Hadfield). They married in 2007 after dating for three years and welcomed daughters Molly (b. January 11, 2009) and Sophie (b. March 25, 2010).
