Neil (in yellow) playing for Hamilton Academical in 2009
|
|||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alexander Francis Neil | ||
Date of birth | 9 June 1981 | ||
Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | ||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
Youth career | |||
–1999 | Dunfermline Athletic | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1999–2000 | Airdrieonians | 16 | (5) |
2000–2004 | Barnsley | 121 | (4) |
2004–2005 | Mansfield Town | 41 | (1) |
2005–2015 | Hamilton Academical | 211 | (4) |
Total | 389 | (14) | |
Teams managed | |||
2013–2015 | Hamilton Academical | ||
2015–2017 | Norwich City | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Alexander Francis "Alex" Neil (born 9 June 1981) is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager.
Neil began his professional career at Airdrieonians in 2000, playing half a season in the Scottish Football League First Division before moving to Barnsley. He played 142 games across all competitions in his four-year spell at Barnsley, and then signed for Mansfield Town on a free transfer. After a season at Mansfield, he returned to Scotland's First Division with Hamilton Academical, featuring in 246 matches across a decade and winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2008.
He became Hamilton's player-manager in 2013 and led them to promotion to the Scottish Premiership in 2014. In January 2015 he was appointed manager of Norwich City, as the second youngest manager in the Football League at the time. Neil guided Norwich to promotion to the Premier League, after winning the 2015 Football League Championship play-off Final. On 10 March 2017, Neil was sacked from his role as Norwich City manager following a period of poor results.
Born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Neil began his career at Dunfermline Athletic, before joining Airdrieonians on a free transfer in the summer of 1999. He made his professional debut in the Scottish Football League First Division on 3 January 2000, as a 64th-minute substitute for Steve McCormick in a 0–2 home loss to Falkirk. Five days later, on his first start, he scored in the eighth minute of a 3–1 loss at St Mirren. He finished his first season with 5 goals from 16 appearances, with the other four scored in three consecutive games in April, including two in a 3–0 home win over Greenock Morton on the 8th.