Martin McNeil (born 28 September 1980 in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

) is a Scottish former 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 ...

. He played in the football league for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He currently plays for

Lowestoft Town Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. History The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suf ...

. McNeil began his career as a trainee with

, turning professional in August 1998. He made his league debut for

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

's side on 24 October 1998, playing in a goalless draw at home to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. He played in the same team as Alex Russell as Cambridge won promotion, but fell out of favour during the 2000-01 season and was allowed to join McFarland's new side,

on trial, playing in the 2-0 away win over

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

on 25 July 2001. He joined Torquay on loan on 9 August 2001, which enabled him to be registered in time to play in the opening game of the season, a 1-0 defeat away to newly relegated

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

, later signing a two-year contract. He played the early part of the season with an injury to his pubis bone, similar to that which had kept teammate

Chris Brandon Christopher William Brandon (born 7 April 1976) is an English professional footballer who last played in Thailand for BEC Tero Sasana. He is a midfielder who has played more than 300 games during his professional career, which did not start ...

out the previous season, eventually succumbing to the need to rest it. On 4 January 2002, McNeil was sacked by Torquay having been seen drinking

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

in public houses in Torquay on New Year's Eve. Teammate Christian Hansen, whose loan was terminated at the same time, admitted that he and McNeil had been drinking and had returned to Hansen's hotel at 2.30 am, just over 12 hours before the start of a league game. In early February 2002, McNeil signed for

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

. He agreed to join Cambridge City on non-contract terms in August 2002, although only days later the offer was withdrawn by City manager Dave Batch. In July 2003, he left Fakenham Town to join Wroxham. He returned to King's Lynn in the 2005 close season, eventually leaving in January 2006 when he joined

Wisbech Town Wisbech Town Football Club is a football club based near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Fenland Stadium. History Although a Wisbech Town existed in the 1890s, the current club was estab ...

. He was voted 'player of the year' at Wisbech in 2006 and 2007. He joined

Soham Town Rangers Soham Town Rangers Football Club is an English football club based in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The club are currently members of the and play at Julius Martin Lane. History The club was established in 1947 by a merger of Soham Town and Soham Ran ...

in the 2007 close season, but left in January 2009 to join

. He then moved back to King's Lynn Town in summer 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Martin 1980 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Cambridge United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Fakenham Town F.C. players Lowestoft Town F.C. players Soham Town Rangers F.C. players Men's association football central defenders Wroxham F.C. players English Football League players