Phil Neal
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Philip George Neal[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 20 February 1951||
Place of birth | Irchester, Northamptonshire, England[1] | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) |
Full-back[1] | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1968–1974 | Northampton Town | 187 | (28) |
1974–1985 | Liverpool | 455 | (41) |
1985–1989 | Bolton Wanderers | 64 | (3) |
Total | 706 | (72) | |
International career | |||
1976–1983 | England | 50 | (5) |
Managerial career | |||
1985–1992 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
1993–1995 | Coventry City | ||
1996 | Cardiff City | ||
1996 | Manchester City (caretaker) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for
.Neal also had a long career with the England national team, winning 50 caps and playing in the 1982 World Cup. He would go on to be England's assistant manager under Graham Taylor.[4]
Neal's nickname whilst at Liverpool was Zico – a reference to the Brazilian play maker and a compliment to Neal, who was known for scoring important goals throughout the club's history. His son, Ashley Neal, also became a footballer.
Career
Playing career
Neal began his playing career at Wellingborough Town, before he joined Northampton Town in 1967. He went on to make 187 appearances for the club before being signed on 9 October 1974 for £66,000 by Liverpool manager Bob Paisley. Paisley had intended to break Neal in as a replacement for the ageing Chris Lawler, meaning that he initially played as a left-back. It would be, however, his industrious and energetic performances at right-back where he made his name.
Neal made his Liverpool debut in the
Neal scored from the penalty spot late in the
In total, Neal won eight
Neal departed Anfield after 11 years in 1985, joining Bolton Wanderers as player-manager. He retired from playing in 1989 after more than 700 league appearances and 50 caps for England.
Managerial career
In December 1985, Neal was appointed player-manager of
Neal returned to club management on 23 October 1993 with
He was appointed manager of Cardiff City in Division Three in February 1996, but in October that year he left Ninian Park to become assistant manager to Steve Coppell at Manchester City who were struggling in Division One after relegation from the Premier League. However, Coppell resigned on 8 November 1996 and Neal became caretaker manager until the arrival of Frank Clark on 29 December.[7]
For the 1997–98 season, Neal was recruited as assistant manager to chairman-manager Barry Fry at Peterborough United after their relegation to Division Three, but he was axed by Fry on 15 March 1998.[14]
He has also played for and coached the Liverpool masters side which dominated the Sky Sports Masters series.
Media
In recent years, Neal has worked as a football pundit for various television and radio organisations.
He has written two autobiographies, Attack from the Back in 1981 and Life at the Kop in 1986.
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Northampton Town | 1968–69 | Third Division | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 4 |
1969–70 | Fourth Division | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 2 | |
1970–71 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 2 | ||
1971–72 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 46 | 1 | ||
1972–73 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 40 | 9 | ||
1973–74 | 46 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 50 | 9 | ||
1974–75 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 13 | 3 | ||
Total | 187 | 28 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 1 | – | – | 208 | 30 | ||
Liverpool | 1974–75
|
First Division | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
1975–76
|
42 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 59 | 7 | ||
1976–77
|
42 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 611 | 13 | ||
1977–78
|
42 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 621 | 7 | ||
1978–79
|
42 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 5 | ||
1979–80
|
42 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 601 | 1 | ||
1980–81
|
42 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 631 | 3 | ||
1981–82
|
42 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 622 | 3 | ||
1982–83
|
42 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 601 | 5 | ||
1983–84
|
41 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 641 | 3 | ||
1984–85
|
42 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 641,2 | 5 | ||
1985–86
|
13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163 | 1 | ||
Total | 455 | 41 | 45 | 3 | 66 | 4 | 74 | 11 | 650 | 59 | ||
Bolton Wanderers | 1985–86
|
Third Division | 20 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 2 |
1986–87
|
28 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 | 1 | ||
1987–88
|
Fourth Division | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |
1988–89
|
Third Division | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |
Total | 64 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 64 | 3 | ||
Career total | 706 | 72 | 57 | 4 | 75 | 5 | 74 | 11 | 922 | 92 |
- 1 – Also played in the FA Charity Shield
- 2 – Also played in the Intercontinental Cup
- 3 – Also played in the Football League Super Cup
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
England | 1976 | 2 | 0 |
1977 | 7 | 0 | |
1978 | 6 | 3 | |
1979 | 7 | 0 | |
1980 | 7 | 0 | |
1981 | 5 | 0 | |
1982 | 8 | 1 | |
1983 | 8 | 1 | |
Total | 50 | 5 |
Honours
Player
Liverpool
- Football League First Division (8): 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
- 1983–84
- 1983–84
- 1975–76
- UEFA Super Cup: 1977
- Football League Super Cup: 1986
Manager
Bolton Wanderers
- Football League Trophy: 1988–89
References
- ^ a b c d "Phil Neal". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- ^ "Phil Neal".
- ^ "Phil Neal - Liverpool FC". Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- ^ "Do I not like that: 20 years since Graham Taylor's World Cup failure". BBC Sport. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Record breaker, John Sinnott, BBC Sport, 6 December 2005
- ^ "Next Bolton Wanderers Manager Odds". The Sack Race. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Phil Neal". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 24 February 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "F.A. Carling Premiership 1993/1994". coventrycity-mad.co.uk. 23 October 1993. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "F.A. Carling Premiership 1993/1994". coventrycity-mad.co.uk. 8 May 1994. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "Coventry City results 1993/1994". coventrycity-mad.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "SOCCER: PHIL NEAL SACKED AS COVENTRY MANAGER". itnsource.com. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "F.A. Carling Premiership 1994/1995". coventrycity-mad.co.uk. 11 February 1995. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "F.A. Carling Premiership 1994/1995". coventrycity-mad.co.uk. 14 May 1995. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "Neal sacked". findarticles.com. 15 March 1998. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
External links
- Phil Neal – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Phil Neal – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Thisisanfield.com Exclusive interview
- Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
- Player profile at LFChistory.net
- Exclusive interview at LFChistory.net
- Phil Neal England Biography part 1 1976–77 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal England Biography part 2 1978 – June 82 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal England Biography part 3 1982 World Cup-83 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal England caps part 1 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal England caps part 2 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal part 1 1974/75-1977/78 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal part 2 1978/79-1982/83 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Phil Neal part 3 1983/84-1985/86 at Sporting-heroes.net