Neville playing for Everton in 2011. |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Philip John Neville[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 January 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Bury, Greater Manchester, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2][3] | ||
| Playing position | Defender Midfielder |
||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Everton | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–1995 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–2005 | Manchester United | 263 | (5) |
| 2005– | Everton | 209 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1992–1993 | England U16 | 10 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | England U18 | 6 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | England U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2007 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1996–2007 | England | 59 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:58, 1 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Philip John "Phil" Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English footballer who captains Premier League club Everton. Neville also played for England from 1996 until 2007. He is the younger brother of former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, and the twin brother of England netball international Tracey Neville.
Neville won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the Champions League with his previous club, Manchester United. He can play in defence or midfield, and is often used as a full back. Due to this versatility he has operated in a number of different positions throughout his career.
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Born in Bury, Greater Manchester, Neville, along with brother Gary, was one of "Fergie's Fledglings". Phil attended Elton High School where he was Deputy Head Boy. He started training with the Manchester United Academy along with his brother, then later joined as a trainee, making his first-team debut in the 1994–95 season but did not get many first-team opportunities until the following season.
While at Old Trafford, Neville helped United win six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League. He was not established as the club's first-choice left-back until the start of the 2000s due to the consistency of the much older Denis Irwin.
On 4 August 2005, Neville joined Everton on a five-year contract for a fee in excess of £3.5 million. He made his debut in a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Villarreal CF of Spain, coming face-to-face with his former Manchester United colleague Diego Forlan. The following weekend, Neville made his FA Premier League debut for the Toffees, against Manchester United. The match marked the first time Phil and brother Gary had played for opposing teams.
Neville's attitude, work-rate and willingness to play anywhere has seen him become one of manager David Moyes' favourites. On 8 August 2006 Neville was announced as vice captain to David Weir, and – on Weir's departure to Rangers in January 2007 – he became the club captain. In the Manchester United versus Everton match on 29 November 2006, Phil and his brother Gary became the first siblings to captain their respective clubs against each other in the Premier League.[4]
Neville commented in the press about the first ever red cards of his long career (he never received any playing for Manchester United), claiming that he would perhaps not have been booked in a game against Fulham if he had been playing for United. However, he finished with more cards than any other Premier League player in 2005–06 (including another red soon after his first).[5] Whilst at Manchester United he was booked many times, such as in the 2002–03 season when he got far more cards than any other United player in all competitions, despite only starting 35 competitive games.[6] Additionally, in September 2003 Neville also received a warning from the FA regarding his future conduct for his behavior after Manchester United's game against Arsenal.
Neville scored his first goal for Everton in a 3–0 Premier League victory against Newcastle United on 30 December 2006.[7] He has also scored two other goals for the club, a cross that evaded the keeper against Bolton.[8] and a deflected low cross against Aston Villa.[9]
On 30 March 2008, Neville was assaulted by a Liverpool fan as he took a throw-in during the 1-0 Merseyside derby Premier League defeat at Anfield. On 24 April that year, the fan, 48-year-old Michael Blackmore, was later banned from all matches in England and Wales for three years after admitting common assault. He was also banned from Anfield for life by Liverpool Football Club officials.[10]
On 19 April 2009, Neville scored his penalty to help knock out his former club, Manchester United in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. He sent the keeper the wrong way, putting it low to the keeper's right. On 19 February 2011, Neville scored the winning penalty in the penalty shootout against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup after a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge. On 9 April 2011, Neville scored a great goal against Wolves, his twelfth senior goal and his first in three years.
On 21 September, Neville scored in the League Cup game against West Bromwich Albion, this time a clinical goal which was the deciding goal in the game. The goal was taken gracefully by Neville who curled it in the top left hand corner of the net.
Neville has also regularly been picked for England squads, making his debut on his 19th birthday against China in 1996. He played alongside his brother Gary in this match; they had also appeared together in the 1996 FA Cup Final two weeks earlier and thus were the first pair of brothers to play together in an FA Cup-final winning side and for England in the same season since Hubert and Francis Heron in 1876, 120 years earlier.[11]
He was only briefly a regular first-choice player for the side, as a left back in 2000 under Kevin Keegan's management. In recent times he has struggled to make the squad with players such as Wayne Bridge being preferred as backup to Ashley Cole. He has, nonetheless, once briefly captained the side in a friendly match (a game in which England fielded four different captains).[12] Despite having been in the England squad at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 European Championships, and having 59 England caps (23 as a substitute), Neville has never been in an England World Cup squad.
Neville's England career included the honour of being the youngest member of Terry Venables' squad for Euro 96, though he never kicked a ball (his brother played in every match until the semi-finals); he was one of the players omitted at the last minute by Glenn Hoddle when he was selecting his final 22 for the 1998 World Cup. It is known that Hoddle's decision left Neville in tears, though media attention was almost entirely devoted to the exclusion of another player, Paul Gascoigne. Neville revealed himself in an interview that Gascoigne, not usually noted for his maturity, took the younger Neville brother under his wing and consoled him.
Keegan played Neville at left back in Euro 2000; Neville received criticism and a large proportion of blame for England's exit, when he committed a late foul on Viorel Moldovan which led to a penalty for Romania which Ionel Ganea scored to win the match.
Neither of the Neville brothers went to the 2002 World Cup – Phil was left out, while Gary was injured. Both were back in the squad for Euro 2004. The brothers played together for England for the first time in seven years in a friendly against Spain on 7 February 2007, which England lost 1–0. They hold the record number of England appearances by a pair of brothers (142) and the most starts in the same England team by two brothers (31).
During Fabio Capello's tenture as England manager, it has often been suggesting that he remains on the fringes of the England squad after his impressive form for Everton in the Premier League
Neville was again not included in Sven-Göran Eriksson's squad for the World Cup 2006 as Eriksson wanted to give youth a chance. However, he was drafted into Eriksson's stand-by group of players after Nigel Reo-Coker withdrew through injury.[13] Neville remained in the England squad with new England manager Steve McClaren and started at right back against Andorra. He has not been called up since 2007.
| Division | Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[14] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Premier League | Manchester United | 1994–95 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1995–96 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 1 | ||
| 1999–2000 | 29 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |||
| 2000–01 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2001–02 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | ||
| 2002–03 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | 43 | 2 | |||
| 2003–04 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 | ||
| 2004–05 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Total | 263 | 5 | 31 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 65 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 386 | 8 | ||
| Everton | 2005–06 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 1 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 50 | 2 | |||
| 2008–09 | 37 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 47 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 1 | ||||
| 2011–12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 209 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 0 | — | 252 | 5 | |||
| Career total | 472 | 9 | 48 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 83 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 638 | 13 | ||
Statistics accurate as of 1 January 2012[15][16][17]
| England national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1996 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | 7 | 0 |
| 1998 | 5 | 0 |
| 1999 | 9 | 0 |
| 2000 | 8 | 0 |
| 2001 | 4 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 |
| 2003 | 7 | 0 |
| 2004 | 6 | 0 |
| 2005 | 2 | 0 |
| 2006 | 2 | 0 |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 59 | 0 |
During his time at Elton High School, Phil captained his school football team throughout the whole five years he was there. Neville was also a cricketer in his youth, and a contemporary of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in Lancashire's Under-19 side, captaining England Under-15s. Neville holds the record for the youngest player to score a century for their county's second XI, when he was 15.[19] It is said that he was good enough to have been a professional cricketer if football had not claimed him. One of his former coaches called him the greatest schoolboy cricketer he'd ever known. His father, Neville Neville, was also a well-known league cricketer in Lancashire.
Neville is married to Julie (née Killilea); the couple has a son, Harvey, and a daughter, Isabella. Isabella has cerebral palsy,[20] which has led to Neville becoming an ambassador of Bliss, the special care baby charity, and a patron of Royal Manchester Children's Hospital's New Children's Hospital Appeal.[21]
He made the property headlines in April 2008 when he struggled to sell his £4 million mansion in Lancashire.[22] In May 2009, he accepted a £2.6 million cash offer for the house from local businessman Matthew Greensmith.[23]
He regularly appears as a pundit on football radio commentaries.[24] In November 2010 he became a top trending Twitter term after a strong performance against Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur lead to a tongue-in-cheek "Chuck Norris" style internet phenomenon.[25][26][27]
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