Richard Marshall Neal (1 October 1933 – 21 February 2013) was an English professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He made more than 350 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, played for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in the 1960 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, and won four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the England under-23 team.

Life and career

Neal was born in Dinnington, which was then in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, and attended Dinnington Senior Boys' School. He came through

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

' nursery club, Wath Wanderers, and then joined the junior ranks at the club. He turned professional in 1951, but failed to break through to the first team. In 1954, he moved to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club Lincoln City, where he played more than 100 league games. While at Lincoln he was first capped for England under-23, and remains the only player to represent England above youth level while at the club. Financial difficulties caused in part by falling attendances forced Lincoln to accept the substantial offer of £15,000 plus player Bert Linnecor from

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club

, and in April 1957 Neal moved on. He was a powerful player, both strong in the tackle and capable of positive attacking play; manager Arthur Turner brought him in as a replacement for

Len Boyd Leonard Arthur Miller Boyd (11 November 1923 − 14 February 2008) was an English professional footballer who played 333 matches in the Football League in the 1940s and 1950s. After serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, Boyd sig ...

, who had retired through injury after the 1956 FA Cup Final. He made nearly 200 appearances in all competitions for Birmingham, including 165 top-flight League matches and the 1960 Fairs Cup Final, and captained the side in 1960–61. The next season, he lost his place to

Terry Hennessey William Terrence Hennessey (born 1 September 1942) is a Welsh former international footballer who gained 39 caps for Wales. He played as a defender and made 400 Football League appearances in the 1960s and 1970s with Birmingham City, Nottingham ...

, so moved to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, where injury restricted his appearances during the two seasons he spent there. He returned to Lincoln, now in the Fourth Division, as captain for another year. He went on to try his hand at management, as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of several

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs in the

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

area, before going into the licensed trade. He ran a pub in

Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire, South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock, east of Telford and south-east of Newport, Shro ...

for nearly 20 years. In 2006, to celebrate their centenary in the Football League, Lincoln City fans voted for "100 League Legends", those 100 players who had represented the club with most distinction; Neal came in at number 42. Neal was married to Barbara and had three children, Debbie, Richard and Tim. He died in 2013 at the age of 79. His father, Dick Neal Sr., was a professional footballer who played as a winger for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

before the Second World War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Dick Jr. 1933 births 2013 deaths People from Dinnington, South Yorkshire Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Footballers from South Yorkshire People educated at Dinnington High School English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football wing halves Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. (1945) players Hednesford Town F.C. players Brierley Hill Alliance F.C. players Blakenall F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Hednesford Town F.C. managers 20th-century English sportsmen