Neil Banfield (born 20 January 1962) is an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player. He was last an assistant manager at

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. Banfield played in the Football League for Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient. He became a coach at Charlton Athletic, before moving to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as a youth coach. In 2012, Banfield was appointed first-team coach under

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

at Arsenal, then moved to Queens Park Rangers.

Playing career

Club

Banfield was born on 20 January 1962 in

Poplar, London Poplar is a district in East London, England, the administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. Five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross, it is part of the East End of London, East End. It is identi ...

. He played district and England schoolboy and youth football and joined Crystal Palace as an apprentice in August 1979, with whom he won the 1978 FA Youth Cup in a 1–0 victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He made only three first team appearances for Palace and in 1981, joined Australian side Adelaide City for two seasons. In December 1983, he moved to Leyton Orient, making 31 league appearances in two seasons before joining

Dagenham and Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as ...

in May 1985.

International

Banfield was an England schoolboy international, and was a member of the England team that won the

1980 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1980 Final Tournament was held in East Germany. It also served as the European qualification for the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualification Group 1 Other groups Teams The fol ...

Managerial career

After his retirement he became a coach. He started his coaching career with Charlton Athletic with whom he spent five years as the head coach at the club's academy. Banfield then joined Arsenal in 1997. Banfield went on to coach Arsenal's academy teams with whom he won two FA Youth Cups, an FA Premier Academy League U17 title in 1999–2000 and an U19 League title in 2001–02. He then succeeded

Eddie Niedzwiecki Andrzej Edward "Eddie" Niedzwiecki; born 3 May 1959) is a Welsh football coach and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently assistant manager of AFC Wimbledon. After retiring early due to injury Niedzwiecki became a coach ...

as the coach of Arsenal Reserves after the former's departure for Blackburn Rovers in September 2004. Banfield also served under Don Givens as the assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland U21 team. He held this post from April 2004 to May of the following year. On 24 May 2012, Banfield took up the position of first-team coach for Arsenal, a role he held until 2018. On 14 May 2019, Banfield was appointed first-team coach at Queens Park Rangers On 28 November 2022, Banfield joined Michael Beale in moving to Rangers.

Honours

Club

Crystal Palace *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Country

England U18 * UEFA Under-18 Championship:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Managerial career

Arsenal Youth *

: 2000, 2001 * Premier Academy League U17: 1999–2000 *Premier Academy League U19: 2001–02

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banfield, Neil 1962 births Living people Footballers from Poplar, London English men's footballers National Soccer League (Australia) players Adelaide City FC players Crystal Palace F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players English football managers Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Men's association football defenders Rangers F.C. non-playing staff