Neil Wainwright (born 4 November 1977 in
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
) is an English former footballer.
Wainwright played most of his football on the wing or in more recent times at full back. His former clubs include
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
,
Sunderland and
Darlington. He returned to Darlington on short term contract in February 2012 signing a short-term contract, before the club folded in the summer.
Career
Wainwright began his career as a trainee at
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in July 1996, making 11 league appearances in two season before joining
Sunderland for a fee of £100,000 in July 1998.
He made only two substitute appearances in the league and 6 in the
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 ...
for Sunderland before being loaned to Darlington in February 2000 for the rest of the 2000–01 season.
He joined
Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
on loan in October 2000 for three months and then returned to Darlington on a permanent transfer for a fee of £50,000 in August 2001,
where he made over 270 appearances in all competitions and was the club's player of the year in the 2006–07 season, but after making only six first-team appearances for Darlington at the start of the 2007–08 season he joined
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 ...
on a one-month loan in October 2007. He later joined
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in March 2008 until the end of the 2007–08 season but was recalled by Darlington a month later having made five appearances for Mansfield.
Following Darlington's failure to gain promotion from
Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
in the 2007–08 season, Wainwright was one of several players surprisingly released by the club in May 2008. He joined
Morecambe in June 2008 and excelled in a left wing-back role before his season was cut short by an achilles injury. In 2011, Wainwright was released by Morecambe.
Wainwright scored once during his spell at the club; in a 3–1 defeat to
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
.
On 28 February 2012, Wainwright re-signed for former club
Darlington, who were in severe financial straits and battling relegation from the
Conference National following a 10-point deduction for entering administration in December 2011. He had been playing for
Kendal Town prior to his signing for Darlington; making his league debut on 27 September 2011 and scoring in a 3–3 draw with
Marine,
[ ] Wainwright would go on to play in 2 more league matches, alongside 7 cup appearances, before leaving Kendal in November 2011. Wainwright made his second Darlington debut on 3 March 2012, in a 0–1 home loss to
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...
; he wore the number 26 shirt and was replaced by
Clark Keltie in the 67th minute. He left the club in the summer of 2012 as the club were relegated and folded to reform as
Darlington 1883
Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football.
The club was founded in 1 ...
in the
Northern Football League. For the start of the 2012–13 season Wainwright signed as a player for
Northern Premier League club
Lancaster City taking over as joint manager of the club in October 2012 before leaving in February 2013.
Career statistics
Honours
As a player
Darlington
*
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
Play-off Final runner-up:
1999–00
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Neil
1977 births
Living people
English men's footballers
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Halifax Town A.F.C. players
Darlington F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Morecambe F.C. players
Barrow A.F.C. players
Kendal Town F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Northern Premier League players
Lancaster City F.C. players
Men's association football midfielders
Lancaster City F.C. managers
English football managers
Morecambe F.C. non-playing staff
Footballers from Warrington