Neil Alexander Simpson (born 15 November 1961) is a Scottish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, who played for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Newcastle United, Motherwell and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Simpson, nicknamed "Simmie", was born in London to Scottish parents who soon moved back to

Newmachar Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen. The settlement has a long history previously being known as Summerhill within the parish of New Machar, later being renamed Newmachar. S ...

in their native Aberdeenshire, where he was brought up. Joining Aberdeen from local junior side Middlefield Wasps, he made 310 appearances in all competitions (27 as substitute) and scored 31 goals.

Playing career

After breaking into the

first team at the end of 1980, Simpson finished the season as a first-team regular. Until recurring injuries curtailed his appearances from the spring of 1986, he was a key player for the Dons. A reliable ball-winner, he won his first major honour for the team he had supported as a boy in the 1982 Scottish Cup. Between 1982 and 1986, Simpson's Pittodrie career gained him a list of domestic winners medals that included two Scottish league championships, three

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. Simpson played in the

1981–82 UEFA Cup The 1981–82 UEFA Cup was won by IFK Göteborg on aggregate over Hamburger SV. Association team allocation A total of 64 teams from 32 UEFA member associations participate in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. The association ranking based on the UEFA coun ...

campaign which saw the Dons make their first-ever run of success in Europe by progressing to the Third Round at the expense of

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and FC Argeş Piteşti of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. In 1982–83, he played in every one of the matches of the Dons' 1983 European Cup Winners Cup campaign, scoring a goal in the 3–2 victory over FC Bayern Munich in the second leg of the quarter-finals and becoming one of the " Gothenburg Greats" who lifted the trophy after beating Real Madrid in the 1983 Final. The following season, Simpson was in the team that reached the semi-finals of the 1984 European Cup Winners Cup and he scored a goal when Aberdeen won the

1983 UEFA Super Cup The 1983 UEFA Super Cup was a two-legged match contested between the 1983 European Cup Final, European Cup winners Hamburger SV, and the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, European Cup Winners' Cup champions Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen. The match ...

. In 1985–86, he helped the team to the quarter-finals of the 1986 European Champions Cup. In March 1986, Simpson suffered an injury which kept him out for the rest of the season. On 9 August 1986, four minutes into the new season, he incurred an ankle injury that restricted him to only eight league appearances in the spring of 1987. He was never to fully recover. He made only 15 league appearances in 1987–88 and 16 in 1988–89. Simpson made the tackle that injured

Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently a first team coach at East Kilbride. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder for Rangers for 13 years and was par ...

of Rangers in October 1988, leaving him out of action for two and a half years. This further increased the hostility between supporters of both clubs, which exists to this day. In 1993, Simpson and Durrant settled out of court for an undisclosed sum after Durrant sued for damages. Simpson's own injury problems continued, restricting him to nine league appearances 1989–90 and a move to Newcastle United saw him play a mere four times. He went to Motherwell for 1991–92 where he spent two seasons before leaving for Highland Football League side Cove Rangers, where he ended his playing career in October 1993. Simpson was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by Aberdeen in 2012, which was played against a Manchester United XI on 14 August 2012.

International

Having played in the Scotland Under-17 and Under-18 sides and captained the Under-21 team, Simpson made his full

debut in the penultimate British Home Championship against Northern Ireland at Hampden, which ended in a goalless draw. In the 1983–84 season he appeared in two friendlies, beating Uruguay 2–0 and losing 2–0 to France. His last two matches for Scotland were against England in the

Rous Cup The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. Overview The Rous Cup arose from the ashes of the British Home Cha ...

, drawing 0–0 at Hampden in 1987 and losing 1–0 at Wembley the next year.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Simpson became an SFA Community Development Officer in Moray. He returned to Aberdeen in 2001 and became their Head of Youth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Neil 1961 births Living people Aberdeen F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players English people of Scottish descent Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers People from Garioch Anglo-Scots English Football League players Scottish Football League players Cove Rangers F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Highland Football League players Association football midfielders Footballers from Aberdeenshire

Playing career

International

Coaching career

See also

References

External links