Gerhard "Gerry" Neef (30 October 1946 – 23 February 2010), often known as Gerhardt Neef, was a German 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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Career

Although Neef was taken to Scotland initially by

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful sp ...

, manager of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, he was best known for his spell at Scottish side Rangers, whom he signed for in spring 1968. A former German policeman, he was seen as the answer to the clubs problematic goalkeeping position. The manager Davie White had been struggling to find a replacement to Billy Ritchie since his departure in 1967, using Erik Sørensen and

Norrie Martin Neil "Norrie" Martin (7 May 1939 – 10 October 2013) was a Scottish footballer best known for playing for Rangers.Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 home win. The following season, he became first choice at the club playing 39 games and winning the 1970

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, after keeping out

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

in the final. The 1970–71 season saw him lose his place to new signing

Peter McCloy Peter McCloy (born 26 November 1946) is a Scottish retired football goalkeeper who played for Motherwell and Rangers. He was a member of the team which won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972, and was Rangers' first-choice goalkeeper for mos ...

. His appearances were sporadic thereafter. He was part of the

1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1971–72 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Rangers, who defeated Dynamo Moscow in the final. Preliminary round First leg ---- Second leg ''4–4 on aggregate; Austria Wien won on away goals ...

squad, but never played. Neef left Rangers to return to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1973, having made 48 appearances in total for the club.

Death

Neef died from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

at his home in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

on 23 February 2010. A one-minute silence was held in respect for Neef before a match at Ibrox Stadium on 28 February 2010.

Personal life

Melanie Neef, Neef's daughter, was an athlete for Great Britain.

References

External links

Career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neef, Gerhardt 1946 births 2010 deaths People from Miesbach (district) Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria German footballers Footballers from Bavaria Association football goalkeepers Scottish Football League players 2. Bundesliga players Rangers F.C. players 1. FC Nürnberg players Deaths from cancer in Germany Deaths from esophageal cancer German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland