Dwight James Matthew McNeil (born 22 November 1999) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a winger for club Everton.

Early life and club career

Dwight McNeil looks to take a Montpellier player on

Dwight James Matthew McNeil was born on 22 November 1999 in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Greater Manchester, to parents Tracy and

Matty McNeil Matthew McNeil (born 14 July 1976) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Non League Born in Manchester, McNeil played local football in the Middleton Sunday leagues and Rochdale Saturday leagues until th ...

, who is a former professional footballer. McNeil has two younger siblings, Baillie and Chiara, and he attended the Oasis Academy in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

. He regularly watched his father play in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Hyde United and first started playing football at the JJB Sports centre in Trafford. It was there that scouts from

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

pursued him for a trial, but after initial rejections from his parents, Bolton eventually got their way and he started training with them. At age five, he was offered the chance to join the academy at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, the club he supported as a child. He stayed in the United academy until the age of 14 when he started struggling for game time and was subsequently released. Within a week of his release, McNeil went on trial at the

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Academy. In July 2016, he was rewarded with a two-year scholarship and was a regular member of the under-18 squad and occasionally played for the Development Squad. In February 2018, he travelled with the first-team squad for the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

match against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

but failed to make the match-day squad. On 10 April 2018, following the end of his scholarship, he signed a professional two-year contract with the option of a third year in the club's favour. On 13 May 2018, he made his first-team debut in the final match of the 2017–18 season when he replaced Aaron Lennon as a late substitute in the 2–1 home defeat to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. McNeil scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 home win against West Ham United on 30 December 2018. On 16 October 2020, McNeil signed a new long-term contract at

, keeping him at the club until 2024. On 28 July 2022, McNeil signed for Premier League club Everton on a five-year contract. Burnley and Everton came to an agreement for a transfer fee reportedly in the region of £20 million, including potential add-ons. On 6 August, McNeil made his debut for the club in a 1–0 loss against Chelsea in the Premier League. On 1 October 2022, McNeil scored his first goal for Everton in a 2–1 away win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

International career

In March 2019, McNeil received his first call-up for the England national under-20 team ahead of

2018–19 Under 20 Elite League The 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League (sometimes referred to as the European Elite League) was an age-restricted association football tournament for national Under-20 teams. It was the second edition of the Under 20 Elite League The Under 20 Elite ...

fixtures against Poland and Portugal. McNeil made his debut as a starter in a 3–1 defeat to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

at St George's Park. In May 2019, he was included in the U20 squad for the

2019 Toulon Tournament The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...

and scored his first international goal during the 4–0 victory over Guatemala on 11 June 2019. On 30 August 2019, McNeil was included in the England under-21 team for the first time. He eventually made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in Maribor on 11 October. On 15 March 2021, McNeil was called up for the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

in Slovenia and Hungary.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Youth Team Player of the Year: 2017–18 * Everton Young Player of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

Profile
at the Everton F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Dwight 1999 births Living people Footballers from Rochdale English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Burnley F.C. players Everton F.C. players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers