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Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full-back. He is regarded as one of the most successful English players of all time, having won eight First Division titles, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four , one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool. He later returned to Bolton Wanderers as manager, leading them to victory in the Football League Trophy before spells managing Coventry City, Cardiff City and Manchester City.
Neal also had a long career with the England national team, winning 50 caps and playing in the 1982 World Cup. He would go on to be England's assistant manager under Graham Taylor.
Neal's nickname whilst at Liverpool was Zico – a reference to the Brazilian play maker and a compliment to Neal, who was known for scoring important goals throughout the club's history. His son, Ashley Neal, also became a footballer.
Neal made his Liverpool debut in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park on 16 November 1974, a game which ended 0–0. Neal made his debut alongside midfielder Terry McDermott. Neal's first goal for the club came almost exactly one year later on 4 November 1975, during the 6–0 defeat of Real Sociedad in a UEFA Cup game at Anfield.
Neal scored from the penalty spot late in the 1977 European Cup Final, when the Anfield club beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 in Rome to win the European Cup for the first time. Neal subsequently played in the winning 1978 and 1981 finals, Liverpool beating Club Brugge and Real Madrid respectively. He scored in the first half of the 1984 final against A.S. Roma, which ended 1–1 and was decided on penalty kicks, won by Liverpool (with Neal scoring Liverpool's first goal of the shootout, from its second shot). Neal was the only player to appear in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins of the 1970s and 1980s.
In total, Neal won eight First Divisions, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four , one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool, making him one of the most successful Englishmen ever to play the game. During his Liverpool career, Neal was ever-present in the starting line-up for several seasons. He played 366 consecutive league matches (a club record and among the highest in English football history) Record breaker, John Sinnott, BBC Sport, 6 December 2005 from 14 December 1974 until 24 September 1983, when he suffered an injury against Manchester United that forced him to miss the following week's match against Sunderland.
Neal departed Anfield after 11 years in 1985, joining Bolton Wanderers as player-manager. He retired from playing in 1989 after more than 700 league appearances and 50 caps for England.
Neal returned to club management on 23 October 1993 with Coventry City, beginning his spell at Highfield Road on that day with a 5–1 defeat against QPR that left them 12th in the Premier League. Despite a shaky start to his time as Sky Blues manager, they did well in the second half of the season and finished 11th in the league – their highest finish since coming seventh in 1989. Perhaps the most impressive result that season after Neal's arrival was a 4–0 home win over Manchester City on 19 February 1994. However, Coventry struggled in 1994–95 despite the £2million arrival of striker Dion Dublin from Manchester United on 10 September, and Neal was sacked on 14 February 1995 despite a 2–0 away win over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace three days earlier, which saw them 17th in the Premier League and two places above the relegation zone. Neal's successor Ron Atkinson ensured City's survival.
He was appointed manager of Cardiff City in Division Three in February 1996, but in October that year he left Ninian Park to become assistant manager to Steve Coppell at Manchester City who were struggling in Division One after relegation from the Premier League. However, Coppell resigned on 8 November 1996 and Neal became caretaker manager until the arrival of Frank Clark on 29 December.
For the 1997–98 season, Neal was recruited as assistant manager to chairman-manager Barry Fry at Peterborough United after their relegation to Division Three, but he was axed by Fry on 15 March 1998.
He has also played for and coached the Liverpool masters side which dominated the Sky Sports Masters series.
He has written two autobiographies, Attack from the Back in 1981 and Life at the Kop in 1986.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Northampton Town | 1968–69 | Third Division | 4 |
| 1969–70 | Fourth Division | 2 | |
| 1970–71 | 2 | ||
| 1971–72 | 1 | ||
| 1972–73 | 9 | ||
| 1973–74 | 9 | ||
| 1974–75 | 3 | ||
| Liverpool | 1974–75 | First Division | 0 |
| 1975–76 | 7 | ||
| 1976–77 | 13 | ||
| 1977–78 | 7 | ||
| 1978–79 | 5 | ||
| 1979–80 | 1 | ||
| 1980–81 | 3 | ||
| 1981–82 | 3 | ||
| 1982–83 | 11 | ||
| 1983–84 | 3 | ||
| 1984–85 | 5 | ||
| 1985–86 | 1 | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 1985–86 | Third Division | 2 |
| 1986–87 | 1 | ||
| 1987–88 | Fourth Division | 0 | |
| 1988–89 | Third Division | 0 | |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| England | 0 |
| 0 | |
| 3 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
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