Neil Wainwright (born 4 November 1977) is an English former footballer. Wainwright played most of his football on the wing or in more recent times at full back. His former clubs include

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

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 ...

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 returned to Darlington on short-term contract in February 2012 signing a short-term contract, before the club folded in the summer.

Career

Wainwright began his career as a trainee at

in July 1996, making 11 league appearances in two season before joining

for a fee of £100,000 in July 1998. He made only two substitute appearances in the league and 6 in the League Cup for Sunderland before being loaned to Darlington in February 2000 for the rest of the 2000–01 season. He joined

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

on loan in October 2000 for three months and then returned to Darlington on a permanent transfer for a fee of £50,000 in August 2001, where he made over 270 appearances in all competitions and was the club's player of the year in the 2006–07 season, but after making only six first-team appearances for Darlington at the start of the 2007–08 season he joined

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on a one-month loan in October 2007. He later joined

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

in March 2008 until the end of the 2007–08 season but was recalled by Darlington a month later having made five appearances for Mansfield. Following Darlington's failure to gain promotion from

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

in the 2007–08 season, Wainwright was one of several players surprisingly released by the club in May 2008. He joined

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

in June 2008 and excelled in a left wing-back role before his season was cut short by an achilles injury. In 2011, Wainwright was released by Morecambe. Wainwright scored once during his spell at the club; in a 3–1 defeat to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. On 28 February 2012, Wainwright re-signed for former club

, who were in severe financial straits and battling relegation from the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

following a 10-point deduction for entering administration in December 2011. He had been playing for Kendal Town prior to his signing for Darlington; making his league debut on 27 September 2011 and scoring in a 3–3 draw with Marine, Wainwright would go on to play in 2 more league matches, alongside 7 cup appearances, before leaving Kendal in November 2011. Wainwright made his second Darlington debut on 3 March 2012, in a 0–1 home loss to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

; he wore the number 26 shirt and was replaced by Clark Keltie in the 67th minute. He left the club in the summer of 2012 as the club were relegated and folded to reform as

Darlington 1883 Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2024-25 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth level of English football. The club was founded in 188 ...

in the

Northern Football League The Northern League is a British men's association football, football league in North East England, north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Footb ...

. For the start of the 2012–13 season Wainwright signed as a player for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Foot ...

taking over as joint manager of the club in October 2012 before leaving in February 2013.

Career statistics

Honours

As a player

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

Play-off Final runner-up: 1999–00

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Neil 1977 births Living people English men's footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Lancaster City F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Lancaster City F.C. managers English football managers Morecambe F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Warrington