Andrew McNeil (born 19 January 1987 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) is a retired Scottish football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

who is currently the goalkeeping coach at

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural sea ...

club

R&F (Hong Kong) R&F (Hong Kong) Soccer Limited (), commonly known as R&F (), was an association football team based in Guangzhou, China which competed in the Hong Kong Premier League between 2016 and 2020. It was owned by Chinese property developers R&F Propert ...

. McNeil was previously with Hibernian, for whom he played in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final win. He has also played in Scottish league football for Montrose,

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie Unite ...

and

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa At ...

. McNeil represented Scotland at three youth international levels.

Career

Club

A former student at

Leith Academy Leith Academy is a state school in Leith, Edinburgh. It currently educates around 1000 pupils and around 2,800 part-time adult learners. Mike Irving has been head teacher since August 2017. History It is one of the oldest schools in Scotland, w ...

, McNeil drew early inspiration towards goalkeeping from watching

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

play for his local side, Hibs. He opted to start his career in England, however, joining

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

in August 2003 through the

Southampton Academy Southampton Academy is a small, private school located in Courtland, Virginia. Southampton Academy, also known locally as "SA" provides education for students from pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade. Southampton Academy was founded in 196 ...

system, earning a professional contract in 2004. He was a member of the Southampton youth team that reached the 2005 FA Youth Cup Final, losing on aggregate to

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 professio ...

. McNeil agreed to be released from his contract when new ''Saints'' manager

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came wh ...

signed a rival young goalkeeper,

Bartosz Białkowski Bartosz Marek Białkowski (; born 6 July 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Millwall. He began his career playing in his native Poland, before moving to Southampton in 2006. After six years at Southampton, h ...

, in January 2006. Despite occasionally appearing on the substitute's bench, he did not make a competitive appearance during his time with Southampton. Two days after his departure from the

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the lar ...

, McNeil returned to

to sign for Hibernian. McNeil made his debut for Hibs in a 2–0 victory over

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

on 30 December 2006 after

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

John Collins John Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet * John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic * John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...

had dropped

Zbigniew Małkowski Zbigniew "Zibi" Małkowski (born 19 January 1978) is a Polish professional association football coach and a former player who played as a goalkeeper. He most recently worked as a goalkeeping coach with Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. Club career ...

. He played in most of the games between then and the end of the season, including the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final, for which he received a winner's medal. He lost his place in the team at the start of the 2007–08 season after Collins signed

Yves Ma-Kalambay Yves Makabu-Ma-Kalambay (born 31 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He most recently played for English club Wycombe Wanderers. Ma-Kalambay has previously played for Chelsea, Watford, Hibernian, Sw ...

. He regained his place, however, later in the season after Ma-Kalambay sustained an injury. McNeil produced some good performances in this second period in the team, but lost his place early in the 2008–09 season after Ma-Kalambay returned. McNeil publicly stated that he couldn't understand why he had lost his place and that he expected to leave Hibs during 2009. One of

Mixu Paatelainen Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and the head coach of Veikkausliiga club HIFK. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for the Finnish national team, which makes him Finland's ...

's last acts as Hibs manager was to release McNeil. McNeil signed a one-year contract with

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club Montrose in September 2009. McNeil played 29 times in the Third Division for Montrose before his contract expired at the end of the season. He helped the club to their best ever Scottish Cup run, which ended with a fifth round defeat against his former club Hibs. McNeil signed a pre-contract agreement to join First Division club

at the official end of the 2009–10 season on 16 May. This deal was confirmed by the regulating body on 20 May. McNeil played regularly in a Raith side that challenged for promotion to the SPL, but the club were overhauled by

Fife derby The Fife derby is a football rivalry that is based in Fife, Scotland. Matches are contested between any two SPFL clubs from Dunfermline Athletic, Raith Rovers (based in Kirkcaldy), East Fife (representing the Levenmouth area) and Cowdenbeath. A ...

rivals Dunfermline in the final weeks of the season. McNeil was one of 15 players who were released by Raith at the end of the season due to financial cut-backs. McNeil signed a one-year contract with

in July 2011. McNeil left

at the end of season 2012–13 after two years with the club. McNeil signed for New Zealand

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

side Waibop United in July 2013. He returned to Scottish football in June 2014, signing for

. In May 2015 McNeil signed for

, and was also working as goalkeeping coach at Edusport Academy. He left Alloa in 2016 and soon afterwards went on trial with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

. McNeil signed full-time with Morton on a short-term deal until the end of the season. He agreed a year's contract extension in May 2016.

International

McNeil was selected

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

squad for the 2006 UEFA U–19 Championships. He was the first choice goalkeeper as the young Scots reached the final, only to lose 2–1 to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Due to their performance in that competition, Scotland qualified for the 2007 FIFA U–20 World Cup hosted in Canada. McNeil was selected for all Scotland's matches as they were knocked out in the group phase. After leaving Raith Rovers, McNeil was selected for the Great Britain team participating in the 2011 World University Games. McNeil was eligible for selection as he was studying at

Telford College Telford College is a further education college in Telford, Shropshire, England. It operates from one main site and many in-company training sites and community-based courses spread out across Shropshire and the whole of the United Kingdom. Dur ...

in Edinburgh for an HND in

sports coaching A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hung ...

Coaching career

Whilst at Morton, McNeil coached at the Edusport Academy in Annan; until in January 2017 he moved to China to become reserve team goalkeeping coach at

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home ven ...

. In June 2017, he was appointed as the goalkeeping coach of Guangzhou R&F's satellite team

in the

References

External links

*
Andrew McNeil
www.ihibs.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Andrew 1987 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Southampton F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players People educated at Leith Academy Scotland men's youth international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in China Guangzhou City F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches