John Neal (footballer, born 1932)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Neal | ||
| Date of birth | 13 April 1932 | ||
| Place of birth | Seaham, County Durham, England | ||
| Date of death | 23 November 2014 (aged 82) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1955 | Hull City | 60 | (1) |
| 1956–1957 | King's Lynn | ||
| 1957–1958 | Swindon Town | 91 | (2) |
| 1959–1962 | Aston Villa | 96 | (0) |
| 1962–1965 | Southend United | 100 | (1) |
| Total | 256 | (2) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1968–1977 | Wrexham | ||
| 1977–1981 | Middlesbrough | ||
| 1981–1985 | Chelsea | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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John Neal (13 April 1932 – 23 November 2014) was an English football player and manager.
Neal was a hard tackling full back who had seven seasons with Hull City, but seemed lost to the Football League when he joined King's Lynn in 1956.
Swindon Town brought him back to the Football League and he missed only one game in two seasons with the Robins. His career peaked when he signed for Aston Villa in 1959, with whom he won the Football League Second Division championship and promotion to the Football League First Division. He won the inaugural Football League Cup a year later. He joined Southend United in November 1962.
Neal was appointed manager of Wrexham in 1968, succeeding Alvan Williams who had brought Neal to the club as his assistant. He took Wrexham to 9th in Division 4 in 1969, and to 2nd in Division 4 in 1970 and promotion to the Third Division. With Welsh clubs now able to qualify for the European Cup Winners Cup by winning the Welsh Cup, and following Wrexham winning the Welsh Cup, Neal in 1972 took Wrexham to the second round of the European Cup Winners Cup, where Wrexham held the Yugoslavian side Hajduk Split 3-3, but lost on the away goals rule.
Two years later, Neal took Wrexham to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Wrexham beat Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Southampton before losing in the quarter finals to First Division Burnley at Turf Moor with just over 20,000 Wrexham away fans present.
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