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Mark Neeld (born 13 July 1971) is a former
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played with
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
and Richmond in the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL) during the 1990s. He was senior coach of the
Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
from 2012 to 2013. As of 2024, Neeld is CEO of Geelong United Basketball.


Playing career


Geelong

Neeld, originally from St Joseph's Football Club, started his football career with
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
. He spent four seasons with Geelong and had his only full season in
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
, when he played 21 games, three of which were finals. Used on both ends of the ground, as both a defender and forward, he kicked three goals in the semi-final against Hawthorn and two goals in Geelong's preliminary final loss to West Coast. Neeld played for Geelong Football Club from 1990 until 1993 for a total of 48 games and kicked a total of 17 goals.


Richmond

In
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, Neeld joined Richmond after being traded for the 38th pick of the
draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
, which Geelong used to recruit David Innella. He retired at the
1996 AFL season The 1996 AFL season was the 100th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...
. Neeld played for Richmond Football Club from 1994 until 1996 for a total of 26 games and kicked 16 goals.


Coaching career

Shortly after his retirement as an Australian rules football player, he was appointed the new head coach of the Ocean Grove Football Club in the Bellarine Football League, taking over from Brendan McCartney (who had won four premierships in the previous six years, and later coached the
Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...
). As coach of Ocean Grove, Neeld steered the club to a further four successive premierships from 2000 to 2003. He then moved to the higher level Geelong Football League, for a two-year term as coach of perennial finalist, and his junior club, St Joseph's Football Club. After an unsuccessful initial season in 2004, he left with a year remaining on his contract, and spent the next three years as the Western Jets senior coach in the
TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...
.


Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2008–2011)

Neeld was appointed the defensive assistant coach of
Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...
in 2008 under senior coach Mick Malthouse. His coaching duties changed in 2010, when he was put in charge of Collingwood's midfield.


Melbourne Football Club senior coach (2012–2013)

On 17 September 2011, it was announced that Neeld had agreed to become the senior coach of the
Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
beginning in season 2012 on a three-year contract. Neeld agreed to leave Collingwood immediately, despite the fact that the club was still competing in the
finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
. Neeld replaced Melbourne Football Club caretaker senior coach Todd Viney, who replaced Dean Bailey, after Bailey was sacked in the middle of the 2011 season. Upon being appointed Melbourne senior coach, Neeld promised that the Demons would play hard. This promise was fulfilled partially when Melbourne upset 2011 runners-up in a NAB Cup match in early 2012. However, when the 2012 home-and-away season became underway in March, the Demons under Neeld were defeated by the
Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...
by 41 points in Round 1. Following this loss, the Demons under Neeld went on a nine-game losing streak which included two losses by more than 100 points, the streak ended in Round 10 with a six-point victory over Essendon. The Demons under Neeld went on to finish the season in third-to-last place, with just four wins from 22 games played. Despite the off-season acquisitions of several players, such as Shannon Byrnes, Tom Gillies, Chris Dawes, David Rodan and Jack Viney, things did not improve for the Demons under Neeld in the first half of the 2013 season, with just one win in their first 11 games and an average losing margin of 77 points. As a result of this poor start to the 2013 season, during the Demons' mid-season bye on 17 June 2013, Neeld was sacked as Melbourne Football Club senior coach. His sacking came within weeks of the departures of senior Demons' staff members Cameron Schwab and Don McLardy. Neeld was replaced by Demons senior assistant coach, Neil Craig, when he was appointed as caretaker senior coach for the remainder of the 2013 season. Neeld was sacked by the Demons with just five wins in 33 games coached, for a winning percentage of just 15%.


Essendon Football Club assistant coach (2014–2018)

Neeld joined the
Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...
in an assistant coaching role as a development coach at the end of 2014. Neeld however departed the Essendon Football Club on 14 May 2018 during the middle of the 2018 season.


Post-AFL career

In December 2018, Neeld was appointed CEO of Basketball Geelong and the Geelong Supercats. As of May 2024, he is CEO of Geelong United Basketball.


Coaching statistics

:Mark Neeld's coaching profile at AFL Tables
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* , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 1 , , 10 , , 0 , , 9.1% , , 17 , , 18 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 33 ! 5 ! 28 ! 0 ! 15.2% ! colspan=2, ''* Did not finish off the season as coach''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeld, Mark 1971 births Geelong Football Club players Richmond Football Club players St Joseph's Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club coaches Living people