Alan Neilson
Encyclopedia
Alan Neilson is a German
born Welsh
former professional footballer
turned coach
, currently with Conference National
side Luton Town
. He played his entire career in England
as a defender
from 1991 until 2007, notably in the Premier League for Newcastle United
and Southampton
.
He also played for Fulham
, Grimsby Town
, Luton Town
, Tamworth
and Salisbury City
.
, Germany
, where his father was serving in the Royal Air Force, but was qualified to play for Wales
. He started his professional football career with Newcastle United
in 1989 as a trainee, making his first-team debut on 9 March 1991. Described as a "tidy" central-defender, he did the defensive tasks in a plain and simple manner, avoiding the spectacular, but suffered because of his slight frame and was never dominant in the box. He scored his only goal for Newcastle in a 2–1 defeat by Millwall
at The Den
on 21 September 1991.
Whilst with Newcastle he made four appearances for Wales
, with his international debut coming as a late substitute for Dean Saunders
against Republic of Ireland
on 19 February 1992, with three further matches coming in 1994.
for £500,000 in June 1995. His signing was Alan Ball's last act as manager before moving to Manchester City
.
Neilson was a competent defender who could play at full-back or in the centre, but his career at The Dell was disrupted by frequent managerial changes. He made his debut on 26 August 1995 as a substitute at Everton
, following which he replaced Jason Dodd
at right-back for four matches before Dodd was recalled. Although Neilson made a few starts, his next run in the starting eleven came in March, when he took the place of Richard Hall
at centre-half. In the 1996–97 season, with Graeme Souness
as manager, Neilson made a total of 29 appearances as "The Saints" struggled near the foot of the table, missing relegation by one point, having been in last place with five matches to play.
Despite Saints' poor form, Neilson earned one further international cap while he was with the club, in a 7–1 defeat by Netherlands
on 9 November 1996.
Souness left the club in the summer of 1997, being replaced by Dave Jones who brought in several new players, including left-back Lee Todd
from his previous club, Stockport County
. With Todd and Dodd as the two full-backs, Neilson's few appearances came in midfield, before moving to Fulham
for £225,000 in November 1997, where he joined up with his former manager at Newcastle, Kevin Keegan
.
on a free transfer, but played just 12 games before being released in February 2002.
Later that month following his release from Grimsby, Neilson joined Luton Town
, where he went on to make 57 appearances, scoring once.
Neilson joined Football Conference
side Tamworth in 2006, joining former Southampton team-mate Richard Dryden
.
on a short term contract.
In June 2008, Neilson joined his former club Luton Town
as Youth Development Coach, and was later given the position of first-team coach alongside Kevin Watson
. On 1 October 2009, manager Mick Harford
parted company with the Hatters, leaving Neilson in charge ahead of the game against his former team Tamworth
just two days later. Neilson subsequently led the team on a five game unbeaten run as caretaker, until Richard Money was installed as permanent manager on 30 October. Neilson was named as Money's assistant manager. Following the end of the 2009–10 season, Neilson's role was changed to First Team Development Manager, with Gary Brabin
taking over the position of assistant manager.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
born Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
former professional footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
turned coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, currently with Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
side Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
. He played his entire career in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a defender
Defender
Defender usually refers to a position in association football .Defender or The Defender may also refer to:-Film and television:* The Defender or The Bodyguard from Beijing, a film starring Jet Li...
from 1991 until 2007, notably in the Premier League for Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
and Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
.
He also played for Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
, Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, Tamworth
Tamworth F.C.
Tamworth Football Club are an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Tamworth, Staffordshire. Nicknamed 'The Lambs', they are currently members of the Conference National, the fifth highest tier in the English league system....
and Salisbury City
Salisbury City F.C.
Salisbury City Football Club is an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire currently playing in the Conference South. They were formed in 1947 and play at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium...
.
Newcastle United
Neilson was born in WegbergWegberg
Wegberg is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast. The city lies in the Naturpark Maas-Schwalm-Nette, a nature and wildlife park hugging the border to...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where his father was serving in the Royal Air Force, but was qualified to play for Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
. He started his professional football career with Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
in 1989 as a trainee, making his first-team debut on 9 March 1991. Described as a "tidy" central-defender, he did the defensive tasks in a plain and simple manner, avoiding the spectacular, but suffered because of his slight frame and was never dominant in the box. He scored his only goal for Newcastle in a 2–1 defeat by Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
at The Den
The Den (stadium)
The Den was the fifth football stadium occupied by Millwall F.C. in Cold Blow Lane, New Cross, London since their formation in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs in 1885 before moving to The New Den, in May 1993. The ground opened in 1910 and was the home of Millwall for 83 years. It boasted a record...
on 21 September 1991.
Whilst with Newcastle he made four appearances for Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
, with his international debut coming as a late substitute for Dean Saunders
Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....
against Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
on 19 February 1992, with three further matches coming in 1994.
Southampton
After a total of 50 appearances for Newcastle he was transferred to SouthamptonSouthampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
for £500,000 in June 1995. His signing was Alan Ball's last act as manager before moving to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
.
Neilson was a competent defender who could play at full-back or in the centre, but his career at The Dell was disrupted by frequent managerial changes. He made his debut on 26 August 1995 as a substitute at Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, following which he replaced Jason Dodd
Jason Dodd
Jason Robert Dodd is an English former footballer and manager, who spent most of his playing career with Southampton, where he was briefly First-Team Coach...
at right-back for four matches before Dodd was recalled. Although Neilson made a few starts, his next run in the starting eleven came in March, when he took the place of Richard Hall
Richard Hall (footballer)
Richard Anthony Hall is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently a Development Coach at Colchester United, having previously been the reserve team coach at Ipswich Town.-Early career:...
at centre-half. In the 1996–97 season, with Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...
as manager, Neilson made a total of 29 appearances as "The Saints" struggled near the foot of the table, missing relegation by one point, having been in last place with five matches to play.
Despite Saints' poor form, Neilson earned one further international cap while he was with the club, in a 7–1 defeat by Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
on 9 November 1996.
Souness left the club in the summer of 1997, being replaced by Dave Jones who brought in several new players, including left-back Lee Todd
Lee Todd (footballer)
Lee Todd is an English professional footballer. He played defence.-Playing career:A very experienced defender, Todd started his career in 1989 as a junior with Hartlepool United with whom he stayed until 1990....
from his previous club, Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
. With Todd and Dodd as the two full-backs, Neilson's few appearances came in midfield, before moving to Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
for £225,000 in November 1997, where he joined up with his former manager at Newcastle, Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
.
Later career
Neilson suffered from injury problems throughout his career at Fulham, making just 29 league appearances in nearly five seasons. In October 2001, Neilson moved to Grimsby TownGrimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
on a free transfer, but played just 12 games before being released in February 2002.
Later that month following his release from Grimsby, Neilson joined Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, where he went on to make 57 appearances, scoring once.
Neilson joined Football Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...
side Tamworth in 2006, joining former Southampton team-mate Richard Dryden
Richard Dryden
Richard Dryden is an English former professional footballer.-Playing career:A very experienced defender, Richard started his career in 1986 as a trainee with Bristol Rovers, joining them as a professional in July 1987...
.
Coaching career
Neilson left Tamworth to continue his coaching at both Luton Town and at Barnfield College. He was undecided as to whether to retire from playing or not, but on 23 February 2007, he signed for Salisbury CitySalisbury City F.C.
Salisbury City Football Club is an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire currently playing in the Conference South. They were formed in 1947 and play at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium...
on a short term contract.
In June 2008, Neilson joined his former club Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
as Youth Development Coach, and was later given the position of first-team coach alongside Kevin Watson
Kevin Watson
Kevin Edward Watson is a former professional footballer, turned coach and sports broadcaster. He can now regularly be seen as a touchline pundit for Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday.-Football career:...
. On 1 October 2009, manager Mick Harford
Mick Harford
Michael Gordon "Mick" Harford , is an English former football player turned manager. He is former manager of Rotherham and Luton Town and has also been caretaker manager of Nottingham Forest and QPR...
parted company with the Hatters, leaving Neilson in charge ahead of the game against his former team Tamworth
Tamworth F.C.
Tamworth Football Club are an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Tamworth, Staffordshire. Nicknamed 'The Lambs', they are currently members of the Conference National, the fifth highest tier in the English league system....
just two days later. Neilson subsequently led the team on a five game unbeaten run as caretaker, until Richard Money was installed as permanent manager on 30 October. Neilson was named as Money's assistant manager. Following the end of the 2009–10 season, Neilson's role was changed to First Team Development Manager, with Gary Brabin
Gary Brabin
Gary Brabin is an English former footballer and manager, currently manager at Conference National club Luton Town.-Playing career:...
taking over the position of assistant manager.
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win % | ||||
| Luton Town Luton Town F.C. Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was... (caretaker) |
 |
1 October 2009 | 30 October 2009 |
|||||||
| Total |
||||||||||