Andy Neil
Andrew Neil (18 November 1892 – 14 August 1941) was a Scottish professional footballer who made 75 appearances in Division One for Kilmarnock and 327 appearances in the English Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion (two spells), Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers. He played as an inside forward or wing half.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Neil[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 November 1892[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Crosshouse, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 14 August 1941 (aged 48)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Kilmarnock, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward, wing half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 19??–1912 | Ardeer Thistle | ||
| 1912–1919 | Kilmarnock | 75 | (32) |
| 1912–1913 | → Galston (loan) | ||
| 1916 | → Galston (loan) | ||
| 1916–1917 | → Stevenston United (loan) | ||
| 1919–1920 | Stevenston United | ||
| 1920–1924 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 129 | (22) |
| 1924–1926 | Arsenal | 54 | (10) |
| 1926–1927 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 38 | (6) |
| 1927–1930 | Queens Park Rangers | 106 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Life and career
Neil was born in Crosshouse, near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.[2] He joined Kilmarnock of Division One from junior club Ardeer Thistle,[3] and made his debut on 12 April 1913 away to Motherwell.[4] He played regularly in his second season, and in 1914–15, his 20 goals placed him sixth in the division's scoring charts.[4][5]
Neil came south in 1920 to sign for Brighton & Hove Albion of the newly formed Football League Third Division. He was a regular at inside right, technically skilful and creative, and impressed to the extent that First Division club Arsenal paid a £3,000 fee – an Albion club record – for his services in March 1924.[2] He was never a regular at Arsenal, but despite a lack of pace, was brought into the team at the insistence of captain Charlie Buchan to play a roving inside-forward role in front of a purely defensive centre half; the tactical change contributed to a runners-up finish in 1925–26.[6] Although he had played 27 matches that season,[7] Neil returned to Brighton in March 1926. He stayed until the 1927 close season, and then moved on to another third-tier club, Queens Park Rangers, where he played as a wing half until retiring in 1930 at the age of 37.[2]
He then went back to Scotland and his original trade, as a baker. He died of a heart attack in Kilmarnock in 1941.[2]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[lower-alpha 1] | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Kilmarnock | 1912–13[4] | Division One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1913–14[4] | Division One | 32 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 13 | |
| 1914–15[4] | Division One | 33 | 20 | — | 33 | 20 | ||
| 1915–16[4] | Division One | 5 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1918–19[8] | Division One | 3 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 75 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 77 | 33 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 1920–21[2] | Third Division | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 1921–22[2] | Third Division South | 40 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 3 | |
| 1922–23[2] | Third Division South | 42 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 47 | 11 | |
| 1923–24[2] | Third Division South | 29 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 8 | |
| Total | 129 | 22 | 15 | 2 | 144 | 24 | ||
| Arsenal | 1923–24[7] | First Division | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 1924–25[7] | First Division | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| 1925–25[7] | First Division | 27 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 6 | |
| Total | 54 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 10 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 1925–26[2] | Third Division South | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 1926–27[2] | Third Division South | 26 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 4 | |
| Total | 38 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 6 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1927–28[9] | Third Division South | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| 1928–29[9] | Third Division South | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 1929–30[9] | Third Division South | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| Total | 106 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 112 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 402 | 71 | 29 | 3 | 431 | 74 | ||
- Includes Scottish Cup, FA Cup
References
- Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
- Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
- John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - "Kilmarnock: Andrew Neil". Fitbastats. Bobby Sinnet & Thomas Jamieson. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- Brown, Alan (22 March 2002). "Scotland 1914/15". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- Murray, Scott (2017). The Title: the Story of the First Division. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4729-3662-2.
- "Arsenal first team line-ups". The Arsenal History. Andy Kelly. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- "Kilmarnock: ? Neil". Fitbastats. Bobby Sinnet & Thomas Jamieson. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- Westenberg, Kenneth. "1927/28". Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018, "1928/29". Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018 and "1929/30". QPRnet. Ron Norris. Archived from the original (XLS) on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.