Richard "Dixie" McNeil (born 16 January 1947) is an English 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 lea ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, who played as a striker.

Playing career

As a schoolboy, McNeil signed for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

after playing for the local club Holwell Works, but he was released without playing for the first team. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the 1966-67 season against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, a club he would later play for and manage. Despite scoring in one third of the matches he played, he was released at the end of the season, dropping down into the Southern League with Corby Town, who were relegated in McNeil's first season.

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

then bought him for £5,000 in May 1969. McNeil spent two and a half seasons at Northampton, scoring in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

match against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in which

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

scored six times. He then joined fellow Fourth Division side Lincoln City. He would be the top scorer at a club for the next five seasons, twice at Lincoln and three times at

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

after a £15,000 transfer. He helped Hereford achieve promotion to the

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 ...

of English football in 1975-76. He was also the top goalscorer of the top four divisions of English football that season. Hereford finished bottom of the Second Division the following season despite McNeil scoring nearly a goal every other game. In 1977, McNeil moved to

for £60,000. He scored the equaliser at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

against

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

, which took the club to an FA Cup replay at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

, where he scored the winning goal. He retired from professional football in 1983 but played on in the Welsh National League with Chirk AAA, and also made an appearance in the FA Cup in 1985, at the age of 38.

Management career

McNeil became Wrexham manager in 1985 winning the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

and progressing to the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

in his first season. After a spell as assistant manager at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, McNeil became a sales representative with

Marston's Brewery Carlsberg Britvic is a British subsidiary of Carlsberg Group, created in January 2025 by the merger of Carlsberg's UK business (including the former Marston's plc breweries) and Britvic, acquired by Carlsberg Group in 2024. History In 2020, Ma ...

, as well as reporting on Wrexham's games for local radio. In November 1993 he returned to football management as manager of

League of Wales League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

side Flint Town United, leading them from near relegation certainties to finish the season in fourth position. He was awarded a testimonial by Wrexham, against Kevin Keegan's Premier League side,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in 1994. McNeil returned to management in January 2000 as manager of struggling League of Wales side

Caernarfon Town Caernarfon Town Football Club () is a professional Welsh football club based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. They play in the . They are nicknamed "the Canaries" because of the club's yellow and green strip, a nickname that dates from 1895. Caernarfon ...

. His first win with Caernarfon was to beat

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in the

FAW Premier Cup The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Wales, Welsh association football, football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English fo ...

quarter-final. He later became manager of another League of Wales club, Cefn Druids.

External links

BBC Wales Hall of Fame

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Dixie 1947 births Living people Footballers from Melton Mowbray English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Holwell Sports F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Chirk AAA F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers Wrexham A.F.C. managers Flint Town United F.C. managers Caernarfon Town F.C. managers Cefn Druids A.F.C. managers Coventry City F.C. non-playing staff Hereford United F.C. non-playing staff