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Alex Neil (footballer)

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Alex Neil
Alex Neil (in yellow)
Personal information
Full name Alexander Francis Neil
Date of birth (1981-06-09) 9 June 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Team information
Current team
 Norwich City (manager)
Youth career
000–1999 Dunfermline Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Airdrieonians 16 (5)
2000–2004 Barnsley 121 (4)
2004–2005 Mansfield Town 41 (1)
2005–2015 Hamilton Academical 211 (4)
Managerial career
2013–2015 Hamilton Academical
2015– Norwich City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

Alexander Francis "Alex" Neil (born 9 June 1981)[1] is a Scottish former professional footballer and current manager of Premier League side Norwich City.

Neil's professional playing career saw stints at Airdrieonians, Barnsley, Mansfield Town and Hamilton Academical. He became player/manager of Hamilton Academical in 2013 and he led them to promotion to the Scottish Premiership in 2014. In January 2015 he was appointed manager of Norwich City making him the second youngest manager in the English Football leagues.

On 25 May 2015, Neil led Norwich to promotion to the Barclays Premier League via the play-offs after a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough at Wembley, following a 3rd place finish in the Football League Championship

Playing career

Later a central midfielder, Neil began his senior career as a callow, willowy young forward at Airdrie before joining Barnsley in 2000. He had broken through at impecunious part-timers Airdrie having been given a free transfer by Dunfermline the previous summer.[2] Neil spent four years at Barnsley before joining Mansfield Town in 2004, where he spent only one season before signing for Hamilton Academical ("Accies"). Known for his aggressive playing style, he is a fan favourite for many of the Accies supporters. Neil won the Scottish First Division with the Accies in 2008 alongside James McCarthy and James McArthur. On 6 May 2011, Neil signed a new contract with Hamilton.[3]

Managerial career

Hamilton Academical

After manager Billy Reid vacated his managerial position at Hamilton in April 2013, Neil was appointed player/manager on an interim basis. He was made manager on a permanent basis on 24 May 2013, at the age of 31. Neil led the club to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, winning through the play-off system in May 2014.[4][5] Hamilton then enjoyed a good start to the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership, defeating Celtic away for the first time in 76 years.[5]

Norwich City

In January 2015, Neil obtained permission from Hamilton to speak to Norwich City about their managerial vacancy.[5] On 9 January 2015, Neil was confirmed as Norwich City manager at 33 years old.[6] In his first game he managed his team to a 2–1 victory at Championship leaders AFC Bournemouth on 10 January 2015.[7]

Norwich gained 17 wins from 25 games played under Neil in the 2014–15 season.[8][9] They finished third in the Championship and entered the play-offs. They beat rivals Ipswich Town 4–2 on aggregate over two legs.[10] On 25 May 2015, Neil led Norwich to a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the 2015 Football League Championship play-offs, securing promotion to the 2015–16 Premier League.[8]

During the 2015 close season, Neil signed a new contract with Norwich City.[11]

Honours

Player

Hamilton Academical

Manager

Hamilton Academical
Norwich City

Managerial statistics

As of 30 August 2015[12]
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Hamilton Academical Scotland 6 April 2013 9 January 2015 70 37 15 18 052.86
Norwich City England 9 January 2015 Present 30 19 6 5 063.33
Total 100 56 21 23 056.00

References

  1. ^ "Alex Neil Profile". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  2. ^ McGarry, John (27 September 2014). "Alex Neil's managerial success nine years in the making as he looks to build on Hamilton's superb start to the season". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Alex Neil agrees new three-year deal with Hamilton". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  4. ^ BBC Sport
  5. ^ a b c "Norwich talk to Hamilton Accies manager Alex Neil". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Alex Neil: Norwich City appoint Hamilton player-manager as boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Bournemouth 1–2 Norwich". BBC Sport. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Middlesbrough 0–2 Norwich". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Ipswich and Norwich to meet in Championship play-offs". ITV.com. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Cameron Jerome seals Wembley final for Norwich City as 10-man Ipswich are tamed". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Alex Neil: Norwich City manager signs new 'longer-term' deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Alex Neil's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 January 2015.

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