Andrew McNeil

Andrew McNeil (born 19 January 1987 in Edinburgh) is a retired Scottish football goalkeeper who is currently the goalkeeping coach at Hong Kong Premier League club R&F (Hong Kong).

Andrew McNeil
Personal information
Full name Andrew David McNeil[1]
Date of birth (1987-01-19) 19 January 1987
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 R&F (Hong Kong) (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
2003–2006 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Hibernian 31 (0)
2009 Livingston (trialist) 1 (0)
2009 Clyde (trialist) 1 (0)
2009–2010 Montrose 29 (0)
2010–2011 Raith Rovers 16 (0)
2011–2013 Livingston 69 (0)
2013–2014 Waibop United 14 (0)
2014 Hawke's Bay United 1 (0)
2014–2015 Airdrieonians 22 (0)
2015–2016 Alloa Athletic 13 (0)
2016–2017 Greenock Morton 8 (0)
International career‡
2005–2006 Scotland U19
2007 Scotland U20[2] 4 (0)
2007 Scotland U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:33, 30 October 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:35, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

McNeil was previously with Hibernian, for whom he played in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final win.[3] He has also played in Scottish league football for Montrose, Raith Rovers, Livingston, Airdrieonians and Alloa Athletic. McNeil represented Scotland at three youth international levels.

Career

Club

A former student at Leith Academy, McNeil drew early inspiration towards goalkeeping from watching Jim Leighton play for his local side, Hibs.[4] He opted to start his career in England, however, joining Southampton in August 2003 through the Southampton Academy system, earning a professional contract in 2004. He was a member of the Southampton youth team that reached the 2005 FA Youth Cup Final,[3] losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town.

McNeil agreed to be released from his contract when new Saints manager George Burley signed a rival young goalkeeper, Bartosz Białkowski, in January 2006.[4] Despite occasionally appearing on the substitute's bench, he did not make a competitive appearance during his time with Southampton.

Two days after his departure from the St Mary's Stadium, McNeil returned to Edinburgh to sign for Hibernian.[4] McNeil made his debut for Hibs in a 2–0 victory over Dunfermline Athletic on 30 December 2006[5] after manager John Collins had dropped Zbigniew Małkowski.[6] He played in most of the games between then and the end of the season, including the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final, for which he received a winner's medal.[7]

He lost his place in the team at the start of the 2007–08 season after Collins signed Yves Ma-Kalambay. He regained his place, however, later in the season after Ma-Kalambay sustained an injury. McNeil produced some good performances in this second period in the team, but lost his place early in the 2008–09 season after Ma-Kalambay returned. McNeil publicly stated that he couldn't understand why he had lost his place and that he expected to leave Hibs during 2009.[8] One of Mixu Paatelainen's last acts as Hibs manager was to release McNeil.[9]

McNeil signed a one-year contract with Third Division club Montrose in September 2009.[3] McNeil played 29 times in the Third Division for Montrose before his contract expired at the end of the season. He helped the club to their best ever Scottish Cup run, which ended with a fifth round defeat against his former club Hibs.

McNeil signed a pre-contract agreement to join First Division club Raith Rovers at the official end of the 2009–10 season on 16 May.[10] This deal was confirmed by the regulating body on 20 May.[11] McNeil played regularly in a Raith side that challenged for promotion to the SPL,[12] but the club were overhauled by Fife derby rivals Dunfermline in the final weeks of the season.[13] McNeil was one of 15 players who were released by Raith at the end of the season due to financial cut-backs.[13]

McNeil signed a one-year contract with Livingston in July 2011.[14] McNeil left Livingston at the end of season 2012–13 after two years with the club.[15]

McNeil signed for New Zealand ASB Premiership side Waibop United in July 2013.[16] He returned to Scottish football in June 2014, signing for Airdrieonians.[17] In May 2015 McNeil signed for Alloa Athletic,[18] and was also working as goalkeeping coach at Edusport Academy. He left Alloa in 2016 and soon afterwards went on trial with Greenock Morton.[19] McNeil signed full-time with Morton on a short-term deal until the end of the season.[20] He agreed a year's contract extension in May 2016.[21]

International

McNeil was selected Scotland squad for the 2006 UEFA U–19 Championships. He was the first choice goalkeeper as the young Scots reached the final, only to lose 2–1 to Spain.[22] Due to their performance in that competition, Scotland qualified for the 2007 FIFA U–20 World Cup hosted in Canada. McNeil was selected for all Scotland's matches as they were knocked out in the group phase.

After leaving Raith Rovers, McNeil was selected for the Great Britain team participating in the 2011 World University Games.[23] McNeil was eligible for selection as he was studying at Telford College in Edinburgh for an HND in sports coaching.[23]

Coaching career

Whilst at Morton, McNeil coached at the Edusport Academy in Annan; until in January 2017 he moved to China to become reserve team goalkeeping coach at Guangzhou R&F.[24] In June 2017, he was appointed as the goalkeeping coach of Guangzhou R&F's satellite team R&F (Hong Kong) in the Hong Kong Premier League.

References
  1. "Andrew David McNeil". gzrffc.com.cn. Guangzhou R&F F.C.
  2. "Andrew McNeil – U20 Squad". scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association.
  3. "Montrose hail 'coup' as ex-Hibs keeper signs". The Courier. DC Thomson. 11 September 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009.
  4. "Andy just gloves being in like Jim". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  5. "Hibernian 2–0 Dunfermline Ath". BBC Sport. 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 20 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  6. "Collins makes McNeil No.1 choice". BBC Sport. 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  7. "Kilmarnock 1-5 Hibernian". BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  8. Wright, Angus (18 December 2008). "Out-of-favour McNeil set for summer exit from Hibs". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing.
  9. Hardie, David (4 June 2009). "Keeper search awaits Hibs boss". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  10. "Raith snap up new keeper". The Press and Journal (Scotland). 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  11. "New Signings Confirmed". Raith Rovers F.C. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  12. Domin, Martin (22 April 2011). "SPL beckons second time around for wiser Andrew McNeil". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  13. "Raith release 15 players in clearout". BBC Sport. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  14. "'Keeper Andy McNeil signs on". livingstonfc.co.uk. Livingston FC. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  15. "Livingston captain Liam Fox tops list of players to exit Almondvale". West Lothian Courier. 2 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  16. Hardie, David (18 December 2013). "Ex-Hibs goalkeeper Andy has Plenty to play for". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  17. "Airdrie switch for McNeil". spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  18. "Andrew McNeil signs". alloaathletic.co.uk. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  19. Mitchell, Jonathan (10 February 2016). "REPORT: Alloa 2 Morton 2". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  20. "Player News – Andy McNeil". Greenock Morton F.C. 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  21. Mitchell, Jonathan (7 May 2016). "Duffy: Morton defenders can add to their games". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  22. "Young Scots give hope for bright future". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  23. Hardie, David (14 July 2011). "Former Hibee part of Great Britain students squad". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  24. Mitchell, Jonathan (4 January 2016). "McNeil leaves Cappielow for coaching role in China". Greenock Morton F.C. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
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