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Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former footballer who played as a Midfielder. He is currently the manager of Woking.
Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. He spent the majority of his playing career with Wimbledon, making his debut for them on 20 April 1991 at the age of 18 in a 2–1 away win over Aston Villa in the Football League First Division. He went on to make over 100 appearances for Watford before having spells at Cardiff City and Millwall.
Ardley announced his retirement from professional football on 30 August 2007 after suffering a series of injuries. On the same day, Ardley announced that he would return to former club Cardiff City having been appointed manager of the Cardiff City Youth Academy. He was the manager of AFC Wimbledon from 10 October 2012 to 12 November 2018. He took over as manager of Notts County on 23 November 2018. He has been appointed as manager of Woking on 18 December 2024.
By the time Ardley left the club in 2002 he had played a total of 245 league games for Wimbledon, scoring 18 goals. He was their longest serving player by the time of his departure. His best campaign was arguably the 1996–97 season, where he missed just four league games, helped the Dons reach the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the Football League Cup, and oversaw an excellent season in the league where they were rarely out of the top five until having to settle for 8th place in the final table.
On 2 December 2012, Ardley managed AFC Wimbledon in their first ever meeting with MK Dons, the football club formed via his former side Wimbledon's relocation to Milton Keynes. An injury-time goal saw AFC Wimbledon lose 2–1.
Ardley made additions to his squad during the January transfer window with Alan Bennett being the most notable. In March 2013, Ardley was nominated for Football League Two Manager of the Month following Wimbledon's unbeaten run. Despite this, Wimbledon were in 23rd place going into the last match of the season with only Aldershot Town below them, however a 2–1 win at home to mid table Fleetwood Town saw Ardley lead Wimbledon to safety instead, sending Barnet down. Remarkably, Wimbledon jumped 3 places and finished in 20th (53 points; -22 GD), despite having the worst goal difference in the league.
For the start of his first full season in charge he added a number of new faces which included the likes of Charlie Sheringham. The 2013–14 season started off very brightly for the Dons beating Wycombe Wanderers, Scunthorpe United, Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion in their first four home matches leaving AFC Wimbledon sat in a Play-Off position in September. Ardley saw his side slip further down the league in the coming months which included a run of one win in eight leading into the New Year, however it still saw the Dons in a remarkably more comfortable position then when Ardley first took charge. Once again, Wimbledon finished comfortably in 20th place (53 points; -8 GD), which could have been 16th place had it not been for fielding an ineligible player.
Ardley strengthened his squad during June and into July with the signing of Matt Tubbs, Adebayo Akinfenwa and James Shea amongst others. AFC Wimbledon's first preseason friendly of 2014–15 was against Margate which saw Ardley come up against his predecessor Terry Brown. The match finished with a 3–0 defeat for Ardley's side.
As the season began, Ardley put faith in his summer signings with James Shea replacing last season's number one Ross Worner. AFC Wimbledon began the season brightly with a draw at home to Shrewsbury Town which was succeeded by fine wins over Luton Town and Southend United both of which came away from home. The club's first defeat in the league came after his side squandered a 1–0 lead at home to Hartlepool United to lose 2–1.
Ardley also managed AFC Wimbledon to their first ever victory against MK Dons on 7 October 2014. They met for the third time in the Football League Trophy with goals from Ade Azeez, Sean Rigg and Adebayo Akinfenwa securing a 3–2 win for the Dons. It would become the season of cup run after he led the club to the FA Cup third round after beating Wycombe Wanderers. The reward for reaching the Third Round for the first time in the newly formed club's history was a home game against Liverpool, which the Dons lost 2–1. Ardley underwent hip surgery in March 2015, leaving Neil Cox in charge for the 1–1 draw with Tranmere Rovers. Wimbledon finished in 15th place (58 points; -6 GD).
The Dons steady progress over the previous 3 seasons was the base for an extremely successful 2015–16 season. Wimbledon finished in 7th place (75 points; +14 GD), the final Play-off position, thanks to new signing Lyle Taylor's 20 League goals. After Ardley had navigated the Dons through the Play-off Semi Finals against Accrington Stanley, Ardley achieved his first managerial trophy by beating Plymouth Argyle 2–0 in the League Two Play-off Final, promoting AFC Wimbledon to League One for the first time in its history.
The 2016–17 season had the Dons finish respectably in 15th place (57 points; -3 GD) in its first season in League One, in part to Lyle Taylor and Tom Elliott's 10 and 9 League goals respectively.
The 2017–18 season saw Ardley unable to follow up and build on the previous season. The Dons disappointed and battled relegation all season but managed to stay up with an 18th-place finish (53 points; -11 GD), due to Lyle Taylor's 14 League goals and a 7-game unbeaten run over April and May.
Ardley managed an overhaul of the Dons first team throughout the 2018 summer, as a number of players left the club. The most high-profile was Lyle Taylor, who went on to be AFC Wimbledon's record Football League goal scorer with 44 goals, and the Dons' highest scorer during their Football League era with 55 goals in all competitions. The 2018 summer also saw Ardley become the 3rd longest serving manager in English League football. Ardley had more than six years in charge of the Dons.
The 2018–19 season saw the Dons carry on its unbeaten run with an opening day win away (1-0) at Fleetwood Town and followed up with a home draw (0-0) against Coventry City. Ardley oversaw a 10-game unbeaten run thanks to an away win (2-1) against Portsmouth in the First Round of the EFL Cup. This was the first time the Dons had made it to the Second Round since being back in English League football. Following a run of 10 defeats in 12 Football League games, Ardley left AFC Wimbledon by mutual agreement on 12 November 2018.
County looked to bounce straight back to the Football League and win an immediate promotion in a season that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, it was decided that the Play-Offs would go ahead with County finding themselves in third place when the table was determined on a points-per-game basis. County reached the final however were beaten 3–1 by Harrogate Town who were promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history. County also reached the semi-final of the FA Trophy, again falling to defeat to Harrogate Town in a delayed match that took place in September 2020. Ardley was sacked on 24 March 2021 with the club 14 points behind the league leaders, Sutton United.
Ardley lost only one in his first seventeen matches in charge of the club. The only loss coming from his former side York City.
| + Managerial record by team and tenure | ||
| AFC Wimbledon | 10 October 2012 | 12 November 2018 |
| Notts County | 23 November 2018 | 24 March 2021 |
| Solihull Moors | 14 June 2021 | 25 June 2023 |
| York City | 6 September 2023 | 26 February 2024 |
| Woking | 18 December 2024 | Present |
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