Neil Griffiths (born 12 October 1951) is an English former footballer who played at left-back for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra,

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

, Macclesfield Town, and Newcastle Town. He also briefly managed Macclesfield Town.

Career

Griffiths began his career at Ken Roberts's

, who missed out on the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

promotion places by one point and one place in 1970–71. They then dropped to just one point and one place above the re-election zone in 1971–72, before finishing in 15th place in 1972–73. He scored five goals in 90 league games during his time at Sealand Road. He joined Gordon Lee's Port Vale in exchange for £5,000 and Tony Loska in December 1973. He played 24

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

and two FA Cup games in the 1973–74 season. He fell out of favour under new manager Roy Sproson, playing just 12 league games in the 1974–75 campaign. He featured 35 times in the 1975–76 season, and scored his first goal for the "Valiants" in a 1–1 draw with Hereford United at Vale Park on 3 April. He made 40 appearances in the 1976–77 campaign, and scored one goal in a 3–0 home win over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

to send Vale through to the Third Round of the FA Cup. He played 40 games in the 1977–78 relegation season, and claimed three goals from the penalty spot after being appointed as the club's penalty taker by new boss Bobby Smith. He lined up against Chester in the final of the 1977 Debenhams Cup and scored an own goal in what ended as a 4–1 defeat. He scored one goal in 27 matches in the 1978–79 season, as the club struggled in the Fourth Division under new manager Dennis Butler. He went on to score four goals in 41 games in the 1979–80 season, keeping his first team place as the club switched managers from Butler to Alan Bloor and then John McGrath. He scored three goals in 25 games in the 1980–81 season, and was given a free transfer in May 1981. Griffiths moved on to Crewe Alexandra, and scored one goal in 34 Fourth Division games as the "Railwaymen" finished bottom of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1981–82 under the stewardship of his namesake

Arfon Griffiths Arfon Trevor Griffiths MBE (born 23 August 1941) is a Welsh former football player and manager. During his playing career which lasted from 1959 to 1979, Griffiths played at both professional and international levels, before becoming a football ...

. He then departed Gresty Road and played Alliance Premier League football for

, before joining

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

club Macclesfield Town in 1983. He served the club as a player in the 1983–84 season, as player-coach in 1984–85, and then as manager in 1985–86 before he resigned to join Newcastle Town in February 1986.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale * Debenhams Cup runner up: 1977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Neil 1951 births Living people Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English footballers Association football fullbacks Chester City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Newcastle Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English football managers Macclesfield Town F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers Association football coaches