Dick Neal, Sr.

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Dick Neal, Sr.
Personal information
Full name Richard Marshall Neal
Date of birth 14 January 1906(1906-01-14)
Place of birth    Rotherham, England
Date of death    26 December 1986 (aged 80)
Place of death    Fence, England
Playing position Winger
Youth clubs
Dinnington Main Colliery Welfare
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1925–1931
1931
1931–1937
1937–1938
1938–1939
Blackpool
Derby County
Southampton
Bristol City
Accrington Stanley
085 (17)
010 0(1)
170 (17)
006 0(0)
021 0(7)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Richard Marshall "Dick" Neal (14 January 190626 December 1986) was an English professional footballer who played as a winger. He spent most of his career at Blackpool and Southampton.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Neal was born in Rotherham and started his playing career at Dinnington Main Colliery Welfare, from where, in 1925, he joined Blackpool, then in the Football League Second Division. He made his debut, in the number 7 shirt, on May 1, 1926, at Sheffield Wednesday in the final league game of the season. Over the next five seasons his appearance and goal totals in the league were: 17/3, 24/6, 32/5, 7/2 and 4/1. He helped Blackpool to the title in 1930, their only championship to date.[1]

He spent the first half of the 1931–32 season at Derby County, and in February 1932, the Southampton Supporters' Club put up the funds to secure his transfer to replace Bert Jepson. Over the next few seasons he was rarely out of the side and was a model of consistency despite the team's failure to achieve anything of merit, finishing regularly in mid-table in Division Two.[2]

In 1937, after 177 appearances for Southampton, he moved on to Bristol City before finishing his career at Accrington Stanley.

[edit] Family

His son, also named Dick, was a professional footballer who played as a half-back for Lincoln City and Birmingham City in the 1950s and 1960s, whilst his brother, Arthur, played briefly for Liverpool and Darlington. His brother-in-law was Freddie Gibson, who played as a goalkeeper for Hull City and Middlesbrough.

[edit] Honours

Blackpool

[edit] References

  1. ^ Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 1-873626-07-X. 
  2. ^ Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing, p. 252. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.