Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

as a full-back. He is regarded as one of the most successful English players of all time, having won eight First Division titles, four League Cups, five

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

s, four

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

s, one

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and one

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

during his eleven years at Liverpool. He later returned to Bolton Wanderers as manager, leading them to victory in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

before spells managing Coventry City,

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and

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 ...

. Neal also had a long career with the England national team, winning 50 caps and playing in the 1982 World Cup. He would go on to be England's assistant manager under Graham Taylor. Neal's nickname whilst at Liverpool was Zico – a reference to the Brazilian play maker and a compliment to Neal, who was known for scoring important goals throughout the club's history. His son, Ashley Neal, also became a footballer.

Playing career

Neal began his playing career at Wellingborough Town, before he joined

in 1967. He went on to make 187 appearances for the club before being signed on 9 October 1974 for £66,000 by

manager

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time. ...

. Paisley had intended to break Neal in as a replacement for the ageing Chris Lawler, meaning that he initially played as a left-back. It would be, however, his industrious and energetic performances at right-back where he made his name. Neal made his Liverpool debut in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

against Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

on 16 November 1974, a game which ended 0–0. Neal made his debut alongside midfielder

Terry McDermott Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Nicknamed "Terry Mac", he is best known as a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, where he won three Europe ...

. Neal's first goal for the club came almost exactly one year later on 4 November 1975, during the 6–0 defeat of

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

in a

game at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. Neal scored from the penalty spot late in the 1977 European Cup Final, when the

club beat

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

3–1 in Rome to win the

for the first time. Neal subsequently played in the winning

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 ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

finals, Liverpool beating

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

respectively. He scored in the first half of the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

final against

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

, which ended 1–1 and was decided on penalty kicks, won by Liverpool (with Neal scoring Liverpool's first goal of the shootout, from its second shot). Neal was the only player to appear in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins of the 1970s and 1980s. In total, Neal won eight First Divisions, four League Cups, five

s, four

s, one

and one

during his eleven years at Liverpool, making him one of the most successful Englishmen ever to play the game. During his Liverpool career, Neal was ever-present in the starting line-up for several seasons. He played 366 consecutive league matches (a club record and among the highest in English football history) from 14 December 1974 until 24 September 1983, when he suffered an injury against Manchester United that forced him to miss the following week's match against Sunderland. Neal departed Anfield after 11 years in 1985, joining

as player-manager. He retired from playing in 1989 after more than 700 league appearances and 50 caps for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Managerial career

In December 1985, Neal was appointed player-manager of

and managed the club for seven years. During this period, Neal led the club to win the

in 1989, although the club would later suffer relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. They won promotion back to the Third Division the following season, reaching the Third Division play-offs in 1990 and 1991 but failed to win promotion on either occasion. In 1991, they had been pipped to automatic promotion by

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on goal difference, and lost to Tranmere Rovers in the playoff final. A year later, they finished 13th in the Third Division and Neal was sacked on 8 May 1992. His successor was Bruce Rioch, who guided Bolton to promotion from the newly named Division Two (rebranded as part of a reorganisation prompted by the creation of the

FA 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 ...

) in 1993 and to the top flight in 1995. Neal returned to club management on 23 October 1993 with Coventry City, beginning his spell at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

on that day with a 5–1 defeat against QPR that left them 12th in the Premier League. Despite a shaky start to his time as Sky Blues manager, they did well in the second half of the season and finished 11th in the league – their highest finish since coming seventh in 1989. Perhaps the most impressive result that season after Neal's arrival was a 4–0 home win over

on 19 February 1994. However, Coventry struggled in 1994–95 despite the £2million arrival of striker

Dion Dublin Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United. As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manches ...

from Manchester United on 10 September, and Neal was sacked on 14 February 1995 despite a 2–0 away win over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace three days earlier, which saw them 17th in the Premier League and two places above the relegation zone. Neal's successor

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

ensured City's survival. He was appointed manager of

in Division Three in February 1996, but in October that year he left

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

to become assistant manager to Steve Coppell at

who were struggling in Division One after relegation from the Premier League. However, Coppell resigned on 8 November 1996 and Neal became caretaker manager until the arrival of Frank Clark on 29 December. For the 1997–98 season, Neal was recruited as assistant manager to chairman-manager Barry Fry at Peterborough United after their relegation to Division Three, but he was axed by Fry on 15 March 1998. He has also played for and coached the Liverpool masters side which dominated the

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

Masters series.

Media

In recent years, Neal has worked as a football pundit for various television and radio organisations. He has written two autobiographies, ''Attack from the Back'' in 1981 and ''Life at the Kop'' in 1986.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Liverpool *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86 *

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 ...

: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 *

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

(shared),

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84 *

: 1975–76 *

* Football League Super Cup: 1986 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1976–77

Manager

Bolton Wanderers *

: 1988–89

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * * *
Thisisanfield.com Exclusive interview

Player profile at LFChistory.net

Exclusive interview at LFChistory.net

Phil Neal England Biography part 1 1976–77 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal England Biography part 2 1978 – June 82 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal England Biography part 3 1982 World Cup-83 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal England caps part 1 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal England caps part 2 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal part 1 1974/75-1977/78 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal part 2 1978/79-1982/83 at Sporting-heroes.net

Phil Neal part 3 1983/84-1985/86 at Sporting-heroes.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Phil 1951 births Living people Bolton Wanderers F.C. managers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. managers Coventry City F.C. managers England men's international footballers English football managers English men's footballers Premier League managers UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players Liverpool F.C. players Manchester City F.C. managers People from Irchester Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Men's association football player-managers