Lewis Ryan Neal (born 14 July 1981) is an English former 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 ...

Career

Neal started his career at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, making his debut in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

on 6 December 2000 against

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. He went on loan to Icelandic side

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (, ), commonly known as ÍBV, is an Icelandic multi-sports district association from Vestmannaeyjar off the south coast of Iceland. It was founded in 1903 as Knattspyrnufélag Vestmannaeyja by Björgúlfur Ólafss ...

before returning to Stoke. He played 70 league games and scored 2 goals for Stoke before signing for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in 2005 in a player swap deal for

Marlon Broomes Marlon Charles Broomes (born 28 November 1977) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back from 1994 to 2012. He also played as a Defender (associa ...

. On 31 October 2008, Neal signed a month-long loan deal with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, and made his debut at home to Bury. After playing 65 league games for Preston, Neal was allowed to join

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

on 30 January 2009, after agreeing to a termination package. He signed a contract to the end of the season. He made his Carlisle debut in the 1–1 home draw against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, but at the end of the season manager

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

decided to release him. A day after his contract expired with Carlisle on 2 July 2009, Neal signed a two-year contract with League Two club

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

. On 22 January 2011, he was released by

, by mutual consent. He moved to the United States and entered training camp with

Orlando City Soccer Club Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

of the

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

league, the third tier of US Soccer. He scored the team's first ever goal on 19 February in a friendly against

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

. Lewis signed with Orlando on 21 March 2011. In early 2012, Neal was on trial with

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

but was not offered a contract. He signed into the league with

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

on 13 March 2012. During his time with D.C., he scored the lone goal in the

2013 U.S. Open Cup The 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 100th edition of the History of the U.S. Open Cup, oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. Qualification began in November 2012 in the fifth tier, although the United States Soccer Federation did no ...

final against Real Salt Lake, giving D.C. their third Open Cup title. After three years with D.C., Neal returned to Florida when he was selected by new franchise

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft. He was released by Orlando at the end of the 2015 season. On 17 December, Orlando City confirmed that Neal had been resigned on a two-year deal giving him an extended role with the organization including an academy coaching role, a playing position on the Orlando City B team and media duties. Neal continued his professional career by signing with the Orlando SeaWolves in May 2018, ahead of their inaugural

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

season. In March 2021, Neal rejoined former SeaWolves coach Tom Traxler by joining the coaching staff of

Central Florida Panthers SC Below is a list of all the teams that ever have ever played, or will play, in the Men's Premier Soccer League (MPSL) or National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer ...

of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

In June 2023,

Anthony Pulis Anthony James Pulis (born 21 July 1984) is a Welsh football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. A journeyman for much of his career Pulis represented Portsmouth, Stoke City, ...

left his position as head coach of

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

, and Neal took over as interim head coach. Neal left the club following the 2023 season.

Personal life

Neal earned his US green card in February 2013. This status qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-offs, play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic Promotion and relegation, promotion places in the second, third and four ...

and

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

Honours

; Orlando City *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

;D.C. United *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Lewis 1981 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players

Lewis Neal Lewis Ryan Neal (born 14 July 1981) is an English former professional association football, footballer. Career Neal started his career at Stoke City F.C., Stoke City, making his debut in the Football League Trophy on 6 December 2000 against Sca ...

Preston North End F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players D.C. United players Orlando City SC players English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland English Football League players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Orlando City B players Men's association football midfielders Orlando SeaWolves players Major Arena Soccer League players National Premier Soccer League coaches Miami FC coaches USL Championship coaches 21st-century English sportsmen