Neil Slatter is a Welsh 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...

, who played at left back

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

. He began his career with Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 in 1980, where he remained for five years before moving on to Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

.

Early Life

He was a pupil at Ton-Yr-Wren Primary School and Llanishen High School

Llanishen High School

Llanishen High School is an English speaking-medium secondary school based in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales and has approximately 1700 students, making it the largest single-site secondary school in Cardiff.-School buildings:...

.

Rise to fame

At the age of 16 Neil furthered his career by being spotted and being chosen to play for the Wales national football team

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...

 along with Ian Rush

Ian Rush

Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...

 and Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes

Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....

. Slatter became the youngest player to represent Wales

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...

 at that time. In all, he was capped

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

21 times for his country.

Health Issues

Slatter suffered a severe knee injury which ended his career in 1991 at the age of 27.

Present Day

Neil now lives in his home town of Cardiff with his wife Alyson and daughters Lauren and Chloe, where he has worked as a policeman for over 15 years.