Terry Neill

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Terry Neill
Personal information
Full name	William John Terence Neill
Date of birth	May 8, 1942 (1942-05-08) (age 66)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Playing position	Centre back
Youth clubs
	Bangor
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1959-1970 1970-1973	Arsenal Hull City	241 (8) 103 (4)
National team
1961-1973	Northern Ireland	059 (2)
Teams managed
1970-1974 1971-1975 1974-1976 1976-1983	Hull City Northern Ireland (part-time) Tottenham Hotspur Arsenal
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

William John Terence "Terry" Neill (born May 8, 1942) is a Northern Ireland former football player and manager.

[edit] Playing career

Born in Belfast, Neill played as a youth for Bangor, before moving in December 1959 to Arsenal. He spent a year in Arsenal's youth side, before making his debut against Sheffield Wednesday on December 23, 1960, aged eighteen. At first, he played sporadically during the early 1960s, getting between 10 and 20 games a season through the first half of the decade, though on one occasion he captained the side at the age of only nineteen.

Playing either at centre half or wing half, Neill established himself in the side in 1964-65, with 29 league appearances, and as one of the younger members of Billy Wright's team, was kept by Wright's successor Bertie Mee when he took over in 1966. Neill became a first-choice player through the mid-sixties, playing over 40 games a season for three seasons in a row, and also playing in the 1968 Football League Cup Final against Leeds United, which Arsenal lost.

During this time, Neill had also become a regular for Northern Ireland, having made his debut as long back as 1961. He became captain of his country in 1968, but a bout of jaundice restricted his appearances for club and country in 1968-69 and he missed the 1969 Football League Cup Final, which Arsenal lost to Swindon Town. Unable to regain his first-team place, Neill only made 25 appearances in 1969-70 and it became clear that he was surplus to requirements at Arsenal. In total he played 275 times for Arsenal, scoring ten goals.

[edit] Managerial career

Although still only 28, Neill was signed by Hull City in July 1970 as player-manager, one of the youngest ever managers in the history of the game; he later became player-manager of his country as well. Neill retired from playing in 1973, by which time he had won 59 caps for Northern Ireland, breaking Danny Blanchflower's record (though Pat Jennings would go on to break Neill's record in due course).

Neill left Hull a year later to succeed Bill Nicholson as manager of Arsenal's fiercest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. He managed Spurs for two seasons, nearly getting the club relegated in the process.

Despite his less than sterling record at Spurs, Neill was recruited by the Arsenal board to replace Bertie Mee in 1976, to become the youngest manager in the club's history. With new signings like Malcolm Macdonald and Pat Jennings, and a crop of talent in the side such as Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton, the club enjoyed a minor revival, reaching a trio of FA Cup finals (1978, 1979 and 1980) though Arsenal only won the middle one of the three; they also reached the 1980 final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which Arsenal lost on penalties to Valencia.

However, Arsenal's success in the cups could not be matched in the league, and the departures of stars such as Brady and Stapleton, and the loss of Macdonald due to injury only made things worse. Neill also fell out with several of his players and failed to contain the drinking culture within the squad.^[1] A League Cup loss at home to Walsall on November 29, 1983 proved to be the final straw, and he was sacked less than three weeks later, on December 16.

Neill retired from football, and has since opened sports bars in Hendon and Holborn, central London. He also commentates on Arsenal matches for Arsenal TV.

[edit] References

General

• Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4. 

Specific

v • d • e Hull City A.F.C. – Managers Ramster (1904–05) • Langley (1905–13) • Chapman (1913–14) • Stringer (1914–16) • Menzies (1916–21) • Lewis (1921–23) • McCracken (1923–31) • Green (1931–34) • Hill (1934–36) • Menzies (1936) • Blackburn (1936–46) • Buckley (1946–48) • Carter (1948–51) • Jackson (1952–55) • Brocklebank (1955–61) • Britton (1961–69) • Neill (1970–74) • Kaye (1974–77) • Collins (1977–78) • Houghton (1978–79) • Smith (1979–82) • Brown (1982) • Appleton (1982–84) • Horton (1984–88) • Gray (1988–89) • Appleton (1989) • Ternent (1989–91) • Dolan (1991–97) • Hateley (1997–98) • Joyce (1998–2000) • Russell (2000) • Little (2000–02) • Russell (2002) • Mølby (2002) • Russell (2002) • Taylor (2002–06) • Parkinson (2006) • Brown (2006–)

v • d • e Northern Ireland national football team – Managers Doherty (1951–62) • Peacock (1962–67) • Bingham (1967–71) • Neill (1971–75) • Clements (1975–76) • Blanchflower (1976–79) • Bingham (1980–94) • Hamilton (1994–98) • McMenemy (1998–99) • McIlroy (2000–03) • Sanchez (2004–07) • Worthington (2007–)

v • d • e Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – Managers Brettell (1898–1899) • Cameron (1899–1907) • Kirkham (1907–1908) • Turner (1908–1912s) • McWilliam (1913–1927) • Minter (1927–1930) • Smith (1930–1935) • Hardinge (1935c) • Tresadern (1935–1938) • McWilliam (1938–1942) • Turner (1942–1946) • Hulme (1946–1949) • Rowe (1949–1955) • Anderson (1955–1958) • Nicholson (1958–1974) • Neill (1974–1976) • Burkinshaw (1976–1984) • Shreeves (1984–1986) • Pleat (1986–1987) • Hartley & Livermore (1987c) • Venables (1987–1991) • Shreeves (1991–1992) • Livermore & Clemence (1992–1993) • Ardiles (1993–1994) • Perryman (1994c) • Francis (1994–1997) • Hughton (1997c) • Gross (1997–1998) • Pleat (1998c) • Graham (1998–2001) • Pleat (2001c) • Hoddle (2001–2003) • Pleat (2003c) • Santini (2004) • Jol (2004–2007) • Allen (2007c) • Ramos (2007–) (c) caretaker (s) secretary-manager

v • d • e Arsenal F.C. – Managers Mitchell (1897–1898) • Elcoat (1898–1899) • Bradshaw (1899–1904) • Kelso (1904–1908) • Morrell (1908–1915) • Knighton (1919–1925) • Chapman (1925–1934) • Shaw (1934c) • Allison (1934–1947) • Whittaker (1947–1956) • Crayston (1956–1958) • Swindin (1958–1962) • Wright (1962–1966) • Mee (1966–1976) • Neill (1976–1983) • Howe (1983–1986) • Burtenshaw (1986c) • Graham (1986–1995) • Houston (1995c) • Rioch (1995–1996) • Houston (1996c) • Rice (1996c) • Wenger (1996–) (c) caretaker