Michael Neill (born 4 July 1994) is an Australian 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 ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Sutherland Sharks Sutherland Sharks Football Club is an Australian Association football club based in the suburb of Sutherland in Sydney New South Wales. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The club's home games are played at Seymo ...

in the

NPL NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Norther ...

. Neill was born in Sydney and played youth football with

and Central Coast Mariners Youth before making his professional debut with the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The ...

and

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

Early life

Neill was born in Sydney.

Club career

Youth

Neill played in the youth systems of English club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and

before joining the

team in the National Youth League.

Central Coast Mariners

After joining the Mariners youth team for the 2012–13 National Youth League, Neill's performances earned him a two-year contract with the senior side. He missed most of the 2013–14 season with injury. In October 2014, Neill made his competitive debut for the Mariners, playing a full match in a 5–0 win over Palm Beach in the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austr ...

. He made his

debut for the club in a loss to

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

in November 2014. Late in 2014, Neill suffered an injury which saw him ruled out for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. In February 2015 Neill signed an extension with the Mariners until mid-2017. Neill netted his maiden A-League goal in a win over

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

on New Year's Eve in 2015.

Sydney United

Neill left

in June 2017, joining

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northe ...

side

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

Rockdale City Suns

Neill left

at the end of 2017 season, joining

side for

Rockdale City Suns FC Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's comp ...

in 2018 NSW NPL season.

Newcastle Jets

In July 2020,

announced that they had signed Neill for the remainder of the

2019–20 A-League The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced ...

season, following the season's resumption from delays caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, Michael 1994 births Living people Association football defenders Central Coast Mariners FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Rockdale Ilinden FC players Newcastle Jets FC players A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players Soccer players from Sydney People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Australian soccer players