Neil Anthony Cutler (born 3 September 1976) 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Cutler started playing football with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

and after loan spells at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

, Tamworth and Chester City he moved on to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1996. Further loan spells with Chester,

Leek Town Leek Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the . The team, nicknamed "The Blues", play their home games at Harrison Park. The club was found ...

, Cheltenham Town and Stalybridge Celtic followed until he moved permanently to Chester City. After a season at the

Deva Stadium Deva Stadium is an association football stadium which is the home of Chester F.C., the effective successor club to the liquidated Chester City. The stadium straddles the England-Wales border at Sealand, on the outskirts of Chester. The s ...

, Cutler earned a move to

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 P ...

. With first team opportunities limited at Villa Cutler played on loan with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and ...

and then joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

in July 2001. He enjoyed his most successful period of the career at Stoke helping them gain promotion in the

2002 Football League Second Division play-off Final The 2002 Football League Second Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 11 May 2002 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Brentford and Stoke City. It was to determine the third and final team to g ...

. He went on to play for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

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

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

until retiring in 2007 and moving into coaching.

Playing career

Cutler was born in

Perton Perton is a large village and civil parish located in the South Staffordshire District, Staffordshire, England. It lies 3 miles to the south of Codsall and 4 miles west of Wolverhampton, where part of the village is almost contiguous with ...

, started his career as a seventeen-year-old at

having progressed through the FA National School of Excellence at Lilleshall. Cutler made an appearance for The English FA Schoolboys team which lost 1–0 to Italy at Wembley. During his time at West Brom, he went out on loan to gain experience at

, Tamworth and Chester City where he made his professional debut on 20 April 1996 in a 1–1 draw away at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Cutler was sold to

in the summer of 1996 without playing a game for West Brom. He spent his entire spell at Crewe as understudy to Jason Kearton heading out on loan to Chester City, Cheltenham Town,

and Stalybridge Celtic. He then played for Chester City in 1998–99, after two previous loan spells with the club. During his time at Chester Cutler made 26 appearances under

Kevin Ratcliffe Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton. Club career Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appre ...

and earned himself a move to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

in October 1999. Cutler only made one appearance for Villa which came as a late substitute for the injured David James on 14 February 2000 against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

with Villa winning 4–0. He spent time during the 2000–01 season on loan at

, making 11 appearances before being recalled in February 2001. He joined

in July 2001 and was initially going to be back-up to Gavin Ward but took his place in the team from September 2001. Cutler played 43 times in 2001–02 helping the team reach the

where they beat

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

2–0 to gain promotion to the First Division. He remained as first-choice going into the 2002–03 season but lost his place once

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

became manager in November 2002. In March 2003 he joined

on loan as cover for injured goalkeeper

Roger Freestone Roger Freestone (born 19 August 1968) is a former Wales international goalkeeper. Club career Born in Caerleon, near Newport, Monmouthshire, Freestone began his career at Newport County as a trainee before moving to Chelsea in 1987 for £95,00 ...

. He played in the next 13 league games culminating in a superb performance against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

on the final day of the season which kept the Swans in the Football League. Cutler was back at Stoke for the 2003–04 season where he was back-up to

Ed de Goey Eduard Franciscus "Ed" de Goeij (, anglicised to de Goey; born 20 December 1966) is a Dutch former professional football goalkeeper. In a 20-year career, he played for Sparta Rotterdam, Feyenoord, Chelsea and Stoke City. He played 31 times for t ...

and made 16 appearances as the Potters finished in 11th position. Cutler joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

in the summer of 2004 after turning down the chance to re-join Swansea. He made 27 appearances in 2004–05 as Stockport had a terrible campaign, finishing bottom of League One. He joined

in August 2005. He spent two seasons with the Millers making 70 appearances before deciding to retire due to a persistent back injury.

Coaching career

He joined Bury as a goalkeeping coach and is part of Just4keepers goalkeeping coaching company. He re-registered as a player at the club in November 2010 and was given the number 30 squad number, expecting to remain on the books on non-contract terms until the end of the 2010–11 season. On 31 March 2011, however, Cutler joined manager

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

and Assistant Manager

Chris Brass Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English former professional footballer and manager who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest in a role across The Academy and First Team. Career Born in Easi ...

in leaving the club for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. On 22 October 2011 Cutler was named on the substitute's bench in Scunthorpe United's game with

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

due to Scunthorpe's lack of fit goalkeepers. On 30 May 2013, Cutler joined

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

after Scunthorpe's relegation to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

. Cutler joined

as goalkeeping coach on 17 January 2018, after Albion were able to agree a compensatory fee with Cutler's former employers Walsall. In November 2018 Cutler was appointed goalkeeping coach at

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

's Aston Villa. He remained in situ during

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, ...

's tenure but with the arrival of Unai Emery, it was announced on 31 October 2022 that Cutler had departed his role at Aston Villa after four years at the club. After his exit, Aston Villa goalkeeper

Emiliano Martínez Damián Emiliano Martínez (born 2 September 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Argentina national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers i ...

paid tribute to Cutler, calling him the "best English goalkeeping coach by miles."

Career statistics

Honours

; Stoke City * Football League Second Division play-offs winner:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Neil 1976 births Living people People from South Staffordshire District English footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Bury F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. non-playing staff West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches Tamworth F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff National League (English football) players Association football coaches Footballers from Staffordshire