Neil Stanley Maddison (born 2 October 1969) is an English football coach, former 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 lea ...

and co-commentator. He is the academy ambassador and player welfare officer at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. As a player, he was predominantly a

central midfield In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

, before going on to play in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. He would initially remain with Darlington following the end of his playing career and worked in a variety of roles at the club, as well as managing the first team on a temporary basis on three occasions. He has since worked with the Middlesbrough academy and has co-commentated on games for BBC Tees since the start of the 2013–14 season.

Playing career

Maddison signed as a trainee with

in 1984 and stayed with them until 1997 when he made a £250,000 transfer to

where he spent time on loan to Bansley and Bristol City (where he scored once against Oldham Athletic). Then he went back to his home town club, Darlington. From there he has gone on to coach the youth team in Darlington and also has a role in the club's centre of excellence.

Coaching career

On 30 September 2006, David Hodgson was suspended by the club following a run of poor results and a possible approach from

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, leaving Maddison and Martin Gray as joint caretakers for up to two weeks while an internal investigation was carried out. He remained in charge until

Dave Penney David Mark Penney (born 17 August 1964) is an English football manager and former player. Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Penney entered professional football at the relatively late age of 21. He had been working as a bricklayer an ...

was appointed on 30 October. On 5 January 2007, Darlington agreed to end Maddison's playing contract so he could concentrate on being youth coach full-time. In February 2008, after

Mick Tait Michael Paul Tait (born 30 September 1956) is an English former footballer and later a manager at the end of his playing career. His 760 league games puts him 13th in the list of English footballers. His clubs were Oxford United, Carlisle Unite ...

had left Darlington, Maddison took over the role as reserve team coach with Craig Liddle taking the role of youth team coach. On 8 May 2009, it was reported that Darlington's administrators, Brackenbury Clark and Company, had released the majority of the first team squad from their contracts to cut costs, with immediate effect, as well as the club's coaching staff and administrative staff including the caretaker manager Martin Gray, leaving Liddle and Maddison as joint temporary caretaker managers. They remained in these posts until

Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing as a defender for Sunderland, ...

was appointed on 20 May. In May 2009, Maddison was appointed Darlington's centre of excellence manager. After Todd was dismissed from Darlington, Maddison was appointed to assist Liddle as temporary caretaker assistant manager as Liddle was appointed caretaker manager. On 5 October 2009, the former

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

manager

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Liverpool. He also played in the F ...

took over as the new permanent manager until the end of that season with the former

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

coach Kevin Richardson as his assistant. On 21 March 2010, Maddison joined Liddle as caretaker yet again after the sacking of Staunton, before Simon Davey was appointed manager on 1 April. Since September 2018, Maddison has worked for Middlesbrough as their academy ambassador and player welfare officer.

Media career

Maddison has worked for BBC Tees as a co-commentator on Middlesbrough games.

Career statistics

Honours

Middlesbrough *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 1997–98

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maddison, Neil 1969 births Living people Footballers from Darlington English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English football managers Darlington F.C. managers English Football League managers