Neil Redfearn
Encyclopedia
Neil David Redfearn is an English former footballer and manager
Manager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...

 who is currently under-18s 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:...

 and reserve team
Reserve team
Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...

 manager at Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

.

Redfearn played 790 matches in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

, the fifth highest total of all-time, and more than a thousand first team games overall in a career that has spanned 24 years. He has had spells as caretaker manager of Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 and York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

 and as manager of Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

 and Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...

.

Career

Born in Dewsbury
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, Redfearn began his career at Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 in 1982, having previously been on the books of Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

's youth team
Youth system
Youth system is a sporting terminology used to refer to a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise, and to fill up squads numbers in some teams...

. He later made his name as goalscoring midfielder at lower-division sides Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....

 and Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

. In May 1985 he was to witness a nightmare when 56 spectators were killed in a horrendous stand fire while playing for Lincoln against Bradford City. In 1987, he was signed by Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 for £100,000, and he later played for Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

, before moving again in 1989 to Oldham Athletic.

Redfearn's last season with Oldham constituted a career highlight as he was an ever-present in the team that won the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 title and returned the Latics to the top-flight of English football after a gap of 68 years. Redfearn converted the injury time penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 in the final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 that completed a 3-2 victory (after Oldham had trailed 2-0), and snatched the championship from West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, who had prematurely been handed the trophy some 15 minutes earlier. Despite his contribution to Oldham's promotion, he became surplus to requirements with the re-signing of former club captain Mike Milligan
Mike Milligan (footballer)
Michael Milligan is a former English footballer of Irish descent.He left school in 1983 and signed for Oldham Athletic, establishing himself as a regular midfielder in the later part of the 1980s and helping them reach the FA Cup semi-final and Football League Cup final in the 1989-90...

 from 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...

 in the off-season and Redfearn was transferred without playing for Oldham in the top-flight.

In September 1991, Redfearn joined Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, and it was at this club he arguably spent his prime years. In his seven seasons at Oakwell, he hardly missed a single game, and was named club captain and penalty taker. In the 1996–97 season, Redfearn scored 17 goals as Barnsley won promotion to the FA Premier League for the first time in the club's history. Redfearn missed only one game, and was Barnsley's top scorer with 10 league goals in the 1997–98 season. These included Barnsley's first ever top division goal on the opening day of the season, when he put them ahead in the ninth minute at home to West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, although they ended up losing the game 2-1.

It was not enough to save them from the drop though, as Barnsley were relegated that season. However, despite being in his thirties, Redfearn's performances had made him a wanted man in the Premier League, and he was signed by Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 for £1 million in the summer of 1998. He left Barnsley having played 338 first team games, scoring 84 goals.

In the 1998–99 season, his family did not settle in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and at the end of the season, Redfearn jumped at the chance of returning to his native Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, when Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 paid £250,000 for his services. Redfearn did not make much of an impact at Bradford, scoring just once against Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

, and joined his 10th team, Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

 after just nine months in Bradford. Despite a very good goalscoring record, Redfearn never became first-choice at Wigan either, and he dropped down two divisions to join Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 in 2001. At Halifax, he also got his first taste of management, being appointed caretaker manager
Caretaker manager
In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...

 alongside Tony Parks
Tony Parks
Anthony "Tony" Parks is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Tottenham Hotspur, Oxford United, Gillingham, Brentford, Fulham, West Ham United, Stoke City, Doncaster Rovers, Scarborough and Halifax Town, and in Scotland for Falkirk.Parks...

 following the resignaton of Paul Bracewell
Paul Bracewell
Paul Bracewell , in Heswall, Merseyside), but was brought up in Newport, Shropshire, is an English former international footballer who played as a midfielder, although his career was hampered by injuries as the years went by.-Career:...

 on 30 August. His spell as caretaker manager came to an end on 12 October following the appointment of Alan Little. Redfearn started a second spell in caretaker charge on 4 March 2002 due to the enforced absence of Little. However, his contract with the club was terminated on 25 April and having been snubbed for the permanent manager's job he joined Boston United
Boston United F.C.
Boston United Football Club are an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They currently play in the Conference North. The club is known as 'the Pilgrims' in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who fled from Boston to the USA and founded Boston, Massachusetts. The club's...

 as player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

.

Redfearn spent the better part of two years at Boston, before finishing his Football League career at Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...

 in the spring of 2004. Rochdale did not offer him a new contract at the end of the season, meaning he finished his Football League career with 790 appearances and so being fifth in the all-time list of most Football League appearances. His last league appearance for Rochdale took his total to . after which Redfearn dropped down to the Conference, where he became player-coach at Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

, managed at the time by his former Oldham teammate Nick Henry
Nick Henry
Nick Henry is a retired English footballer. He played as a midfielder, and spent most of his career at Oldham Athletic.- Oldham Athletic :...

. He signed a new contract with Scarborough in April 2005. When Henry was sacked on 24 October Redfearn was named caretaker manager, before being appointed permanently on 1 November while remaining registered as a player. Redfearn resigned on 6 July 2006 after Mark Patterson was brought in as assistant manager. He subsequently signed with Northern Premier League
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...

 First Division
Northern Premier League First Division
The Northern Premier League First Division was a football league covering the north of England. After the creation of Conference North/South in the 2004-05 season it sat at level 8 of the English football league system....

 side Bradford Park Avenue later that month. He made his 1,000th competitive appearance on 4 November 2006, when Bradford Park Avenue faced Solihull Borough
Solihull Borough F.C.
Solihull Borough F.C. was an English football club from Solihull. In 2007 the club merged with Moor Green to form a new club, Solihull Moors.-History:...

 in the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...

.

Redfearn quit Bradford Park Avenue in March 2007, joining Northern Premier League First Division rivals Stocksbridge Park Steels
Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C.
Stocksbridge Park Steels Football Club is a football club based in Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, England, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The club was formed in 1986 after a merger between two other clubs, and initially played in the Northern Counties East League...

, but left on 19 June to become manager of Conference side Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...

. He resigned on 17 September 2007, after the club only managed one point from their first nine games, leaving them bottom of the 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...

.

He joined Northern Premier League Premier Division
Northern Premier League Premier Division
The Premier Division is the top division of the Northern Premier League. It is at Step 3 of the National League System, placing it six divisions below the Premier League...

 club Frickley Athletic
Frickley Athletic F.C.
Frickley Athletic F.C. are a football club based in South Elmsall, in West Yorkshire, England. They were established in 1910 as Frickley Colliery F.C., and changed to their present name in 1974.-History:...

 as a player in September 2007. He left the club over a month later to join Bridlington Town on 5 November. He left them in January 2008 after the departure of manager Ash Berry. He was appointed as York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

's youth team coach in February. He joined Emley in July, where he would play when his commitments with York's youth team allowed. Redfearn moved onto Salford City
Salford City F.C.
Salford City F.C. are a semi-professional football club based in the Kersal area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. They are the only semi-professional side in the City of Salford, with Manchester United the closest league club. Salford City currently play in the Northern Premier League...

 of the Northern Premier League
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...

 Division One North
Northern Premier League Division One North
Division One North is one of the two second-tier divisions of the Northern Premier League. It is at tier 4 of the National League System, tier 8 of the English football league system...

 in October 2008. He took over as caretaker manager at York on 21 November 2008, following Colin Walker's sacking and was in charge for the team's 2–2 draw against Crawley Town
Crawley Town F.C.
Crawley Town Football Club is an English football club based in Crawley, West Sussex. They won the title of the Football Conference, by a record 15 point margin on second place, and with it promotion to The Football League, in April 2011.-1896–2009:...

. Following Martin Foyle
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle is an English former footballer, turned football manager. In his 20 year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals...

's appointment as manager on 24 November, Redfearn took up the position of assistant manager at the club.

Redfearn left York over a month later after being appointed coach of the under-18 academy team at Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 on 30 December and he assumed this role on 1 January 2009. He took over as manager of the Leeds reserve team
Reserve team
Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...

 in December 2010 following the sacking of Neil Thompson
Neil Thompson
Neil Thompson is an English former footballer who played in defence, chiefly on the left side of the pitch, for Scarborough, Ipswich Town and Barnsley amongst others. Thompson subsequently became a football coach and had spells at York City, Scarborough and Boston United as player-manager...

.

Personal life

Redfearn's father Brian is a former footballer. He was married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 in his hometown Dewsbury in June 1985.

Managerial statistics

TeamNationFromHalifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 (caretaker)
30 August 2001 12 October 2001 8 2 3 3 25.0
Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 (caretaker)
4 March 2002 25 April 2002 11 3 1 7 27.3
Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

24 October 2005 6 July 2006 29 5 7 17 17.2
Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...

19 June 2007 17 September 2007 9 0 1 8 0.0
York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

 (caretaker)
21 November 2008 24 November 2008 1 0 1 0 0.0
Total 5810133517.2

External links

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