Neil Bailey (born 26 September 1958) 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 ...

. He played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He began his career at Newport County in the early 1980s, during the most successful period in the club's history. Bailey was part of the team that won promotion and the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), 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 mo ...

and, in the subsequent season, reached the quarter-finals of the

1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1980–81 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Dinamo Tbilisi in the final against Carl Zeiss Jena. Dinamo Tbilisi's side defeated English Second Division side West Ham United away before beating Carl Zeiss Jena in a final watc ...

. Bailey made 134 appearances for Newport, scoring seven goals. He joined his hometown club,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

, in 1983. He spent three years at Springfield Park, making 41 league appearances and scoring two goals. In 1986, Bailey joined

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and went on to make a half-century of appearances for the

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

club. During his time at

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium ho ...

, he was loaned out to his first club, Newport County. Bailey retired from playing in 1988, but stayed on at Stockport County as a coach. In 1992, Bailey joined

Billy Ayre William Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred League appearances in the process. After retiring from the playing side of the game ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

, also as a coach, but occasionally took to the field as an emergency fill-in when injuries dictated. Bailey was later a youth team coach at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and then a coach for the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

between 2002 and 2007. In January 2007

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...

was appointed team manager of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and he appointed Bailey as first team coach. When Keane resigned in December 2008 Bailey was promoted to joint Assistant Manager with

Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...

under caretaker manager

Ricky Sbragia Richard Sbragia (born 26 May 1956) is a Scottish football coach and former player. His playing career, mainly in the English lower leagues began at Birmingham City, Walsall, Blackpool, York City and a loan spell at Darlington. Sbragia had a br ...

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising school ...

was appointed Sunderland manager in July 2009 with Sbragia and Bailey subsequently being released by Sunderland. In 2010 Bailey rejoined the PFA as a Regional Coach Educator in North West England.

References

Newport County A-Z of transfersBailey's profile at Soccerbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Neil 1958 births Living people Footballers from Wigan English footballers Newport County A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Association football midfielders