John Neal (13 April 1932 – 23 November 2014) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager.

Playing career

Neal was a hard tackling full back who had seven seasons with Hull City, but seemed lost to the Football League when he joined King's Lynn in 1956.

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

brought him back to the Football League and he missed only one game in two seasons with the Robins. His career peaked when he signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in 1959, with whom he won the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

championship and promotion to the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

. He won the inaugural

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

a year later. He joined Southend United in November 1962.

Managerial career

Wrexham

Neal was appointed manager of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in 1968, succeeding Alvan Williams who had brought Neal to the club as his assistant. He took Wrexham to 9th in Division 4 in 1969, and to 2nd in Division 4 in 1970 and promotion to the Third Division. With Welsh clubs now able to qualify for the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

by winning the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

, and following Wrexham winning the Welsh Cup, Neal in 1972 took Wrexham to the second round of the European Cup Winners Cup, where Wrexham held the Yugoslavian side

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

3-3, but lost on the away goals rule. Two years later, Neal took Wrexham to the quarter-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Wrexham beat

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, Crystal Palace and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

before losing in the quarter finals to First Division

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

at Turf Moor with just over 20,000 Wrexham away fans present. In 1976, Neal took Wrexham on another run in the European Cup Winners Cup. They lost narrowly 2–1 in the quarter finals to the eventual winners

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, commonly abbreviated to RSC Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Div ...

. In the 1976–77 season, Wrexham beat First Division

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the League Cup, and First Division

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in the FA Cup.

Middlesbrough

Neal succeeded

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

as manager of

in 1977. He left the club four years later.

Chelsea

Neal was appointed manager of Chelsea in 1981 as a successor to

Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...

. The club narrowly avoided relegation to the Third Division of the Football League during 1982–83 for the first time ever, but over the summer Neal signed

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...

from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Pat Nevin Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September 1963) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. In a twenty-year career, he appeared for Clyde F.C., Clyde, Che ...

from Clyde, Eddie Niedzwiecki from

Joe McLaughlin from Greenock Morton and

Nigel Spackman Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is a former professional footballer and English Manager (association football), football manager, and is a sports television pundit. As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Li ...

from

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. The previous season he had brought in

Joey Jones Joseph Patrick Jones (born 4 March 1955) is a Welsh former footballer who played as a full-back. Jones most notably played for Liverpool, with whom he won two European Cups. He is also known for his long association with Wrexham, playing for ...

and

David Speedie David Robert Speedie (born 20 February 1960) is a Scottish former footballer who played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. He accumulated more than 500 ...

and then added Mickey Thomas in January 1984. This side won the Second Division championship in 1983–84, losing just four league games and securing their place in the top-flight for the first time since 1979. Upon returning to the top tier, Chelsea finished 6th, reached the League Cup semi-finals, and for a time were challenging for a place in Europe, though the events at Heysel that season would have rendered European qualification immaterial anyway. Neal retired at the end of the 1984–85 season due to ill-health and underwent heart surgery in 1986. After retirement as Chelsea manager in June 1985 he was appointed to the Chelsea Board of Directors. On 23 November 2014, Neal died at the age of 82.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Aston Villa *

: 1960–61

References

External links

*
John Neal profile
at Swindon Town FC {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, John 1932 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Seaham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Hull City A.F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Southend United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Wrexham A.F.C. managers Middlesbrough F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. managers English Football League managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen