Andrew Scott Neil, known as Scott Neil, (born 1 August 1962 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland) is a retired British

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played in the United Kingdom between 1985 and 2002. He also played for the Great Britain national team between 1989 and 1994. He was inducted into the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

in 2007. Neil is currently the owner of the

Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apr ...

in the British

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

Playing career

Club

After playing

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

in Edinburgh, Neil went to university in Canada. When he returned to the United Kingdom he rejoined the Edinburgh setup as a senior player with the

Murrayfield Racers The Murrayfield Racers were an ice hockey team based in Edinburgh, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consi ...

in 1985 playing in the Premier Division of the

British Hockey League The British League was the top-flight ice hockey league in the United Kingdom from 1982 until 1996, when it was replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League. Note that the league never had 'hockey' in its title. The le ...

. In his seven seasons with the Racers, he helped the team to win the league championship in 1986–87 and 1987–88; the Norwich Union Trophy in 1985; and reaching the playoff finals weekend at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

every year bar one and winning the playoffs in 1986. He was also twice named the British

All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team. In 1992, Neil joined the

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...

in Division 1 of the British Hockey League. In his five seasons with the Steelers, he helped them to gain promotion to the Premier Division as well as to win the grand slam of the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

, the league championship and the playoff championship in 1994–95; as well as the playoff championship in 1996 and 1997 and the league championship in 1995–96. Neil returned to Edinburgh in 1997 where he had helped form the Murrayfield Royals, who later changed their name to the

. Neil retired from playing at the end of the 2001–02 season. He also coached the Capitals for the 2006–07 season after the previous coach, and his cousin,

Tony Hand Anthony Hand MBE (born 15 August 1967) is a Scottish former ice hockey player and coach. He was the first British player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986. Nicknamed ''Two point Tony'', he holds seve ...

, left to coach the

Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix were a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to M ...

. However, the following season, 2007–08, he hired Doug Christiansen to coach the Capitals.

International

Neil played for the Great Britain national team seven times between 1989 and 1994. During this time he helped the team gain promotion from

Pool D Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

to Pool A of the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

and taking part in the Olympic Qualifiers in 1993. In total Neil scored 23 goals and 12 assists for 35

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

in the games he played for his country.

Awards and honours

*Named to 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 ...

British

team in 1988 and 1989. *Inducted to the

in 2007.

Career statistics

Club

International

Footnotes

References

European Hockey.NetIce Hockey Journalists UKThe Internet Hockey Database

External links

Scott Neil's career stats
a
European Hockey.Net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neil, Scott 1962 births British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Edinburgh Capitals players Living people Murrayfield Racers players Scottish ice hockey forwards Sheffield Steelers players Sportspeople from Edinburgh Scottish sports executives and administrators Ice hockey executives