Neil Jason Shipperley (born 30 October 1974) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He 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 Chelsea,

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, ...

, Crystal Palace,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and Sheffield United as well as featuring 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 ...

for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

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 ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He scored the only goal of the 2004 Football League First Division play-off final for Crystal Palace. He was also capped seven times by the England U21 team, scoring three goals. Following retirement he moved into management with non-league clubs

Bedfont Bedfont is a suburb in the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west of Centre of London, Charing Cross. Originally a distinct village, Bedfont has a large central conservation area around Bedfont Green. The majority of the housing was bui ...

, Walton Casuals and North Greenford United.

Playing career

Chelsea

Shipperley got his break in football at the age of 15, when playing for Spartan League side Brook House in the Middlesex Charity Cup. The tournament's patron, celebrity astrologer Russell Grant, was friends with Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, whose club sent a team to the tournament. Shipperley bettered Chelsea centre-back Frank Sinclair for strength and pace, and was scouted by the club. An article in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' in January 1994 predicted that Shipperley could become Chelsea's first homegrown star striker since Peter Osgood in the 1960s. In the inaugural

season of 1992–93, Shipperley made his professional debut towards the end of the campaign. On 10 April, he came on as a 65th-minute substitute for Robert Fleck in a 1–0 loss at his future club

, and two days later on his first start and first game at Stamford Bridge he scored their last goal in a 4–2 win against

Southampton and Crystal Palace

Shipperley was signed for Southampton by Alan Ball for a record fee of £1.25 million on 6 January 1995. New manager Graeme Souness signed Norwegian Egil Østenstad, prompting Shipperley to drop to the First Division by signing for Crystal Palace for a £1 million fee in October 1996. He scored 13 times for the Eagles over the rest of the season as they were promoted via the play-offs, including one on 10 May in a 3–1 home win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in the first leg of the semi-finals. In 1997–98, he scored seven times – including five consecutive games from October to December – in a season that ended with relegation.

Nottingham Forest and Barnsley

In September 1998, Shipperley returned to the Premier League by signing for

for £1.5 million. He scored only once in 21 games as Forest went down, that coming on 13 March 1999 to round off a 3–1 win at his future club Wimbledon. For 1999–2000, Shipperley signed for First Division club

for £700,000. He scored 15 times in 46 total games in his first season, including both of a 2–0 home win over

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

rivals Sheffield United on 6 November. On 13 May 2000, he opened the scoring in a 4–0 win at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals, though his team would lose 4–2 to Ipswich Town in the final at Wembley.

Wimbledon and return to Palace

Ahead of the 2001–02 season, Shipperley joined Wimbledon for £750,000, and scored on his debut on 11 August to open a 3–1 win over Birmingham. He scored 12 times in his first season with the Dons, including braces in both games against eventual champions

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

(4–0 away and 2–1 home wins). He captained the side, and built a prolific partnership with Irishman David Connolly in 2002–03, the club's final season. In July 2003, Shipperley returned to Palace on a three-year deal. On 29 May 2004 at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

, he captained the side and scored the only goal of a play-off final win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

to take the Eagles back to the Premier League.

Later career

After Palace's immediate relegation, Shipperley moved on to Sheffield United on a two-year deal on a free transfer in July 2005. He scored 11 times as the Blades won promotion as runners-up to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, including two on 10 December in a 3–0 home win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. On 15 January 2007, his contract with Sheffield United was terminated by mutual consent, and he signed a four-month contract with

, eight days later. He failed to score in his eleven appearances for Brentford, and on 25 April 2007 announced his retirement from professional football. In June that year, he rejected the chance to play for Wimbledon's successor AFC Wimbledon, telling the '' Surrey Comet'' that he was in the Middle East to coach a club there.

Managerial career

On 20 May 2009, it was announced that Shipperley had become manager of

in the Combined Counties League. In the summer of 2010, Shipperley was appointed manager of Walton Casuals in the Isthmian League Division One South. In October 2011, after 15 months in the role he re resigned from the role. On Boxing Day 2011, Shipperley was confirmed as the successor to Steve Ringrose at North Greenford United a post he held until May 2012 when he resigned to look for management experience at a higher level, though he returned in October 2012 following the sacking of Jon-Barrie Bates. He made an appearance as a player against Leighton Town in the final game of the 2012–13 season. Shipperley's second spell as manager at North Greenford United came to an end when he resigned in February 2014 following a 4–1 defeat to Dunstable Town.

Personal life

Shipperley's father was Dave Shipperley, who played for many years at centre back for Charlton Athletic and Gillingham.

Public masturbation conviction

In December 2019, Shipperley was found guilty of public

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

and intentionally exposing himself to a mother and her 16-year-old daughter. He was given a 12-month community order, ordered to complete 120 hours' unpaid work plus costs and compensation. He was also made subject to a five-year sexual offences notification requirement order and told to report to Hayes police station within three days. Shipperley had been receiving counselling for personal issues, including the death of his father and gambling addiction, as well as debts.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipperley, Neil 1974 births Living people Footballers from Chatham, Kent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Watford F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players North Greenford United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Isthmian League players England men's under-21 international footballers English football managers Bedfont F.C. managers Walton Casuals F.C. managers North Greenford United F.C. managers Isthmian League managers British sportspeople convicted of crimes English sex offenders People convicted of sex crimes