Neil Emblen

Neil Emblen (born 19 June 1971) is an English former professional footballer who is the assistant coach of Colorado Rapids and New Zealand.

Neil Emblen
Personal information
Full name Neil Emblen[1]
Date of birth (1971-06-19) 19 June 1971[1]
Place of birth Bromley, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 New Zealand, Colorado Rapids (assistant coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Tonbridge Angels 99 (12)
1992–1993 Sittingbourne 54 (2)
1993–1994 Millwall 12 (0)
1994–1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers 89 (9)
1997–1998 Crystal Palace 13 (0)
1998–2001 Wolverhampton Wanderers 114 (7)
2001–2003 Norwich City 14 (0)
2003 → Walsall (loan) 5 (0)
2003–2005 Walsall 75 (7)
2005–2007 New Zealand Knights 32 (3)
2007–2011 Waitakere United 42 (5)
2013–2014 Western Springs
Managerial career
2009–2012 Waitakere United (player-coach)
2012 New Zealand U23
2012–2013 New Zealand (assistant coach)
2013–2017 Western Springs
2014 New Zealand (interim head coach)
2018–2022 Colorado Rapids (assistant coach)
2019–2022 New Zealand (assistant coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He has served as assistant head coach of New Zealand under Ricki Herbert and of Anthony Hudson, and was briefly the interim head coach prior to Hudson's appointment. He was the head coach of the New Zealand U23's during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

He spent the majority of his career in English football with Millwall, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Walsall, before moving to New Zealand.

Club career

Emblen started his career as a youth player at Tonbridge Angels before moving to Sittingbourne and then Millwall for a fee of £210,000 including Michael Harle. After spending a year with the Lions, Emblen was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £600,000, where he would become a regular during his three years at Molineux.[2]

A £2,000,000 move to Crystal Palace beckoned in 1997 but would last just one season, and in 1998, after scoring two goals for Palace in the FA Cup against Scunthorpe United,[3] Emblen moved back to Wolves in exchange for the West Midlands club writing off the remainder of the £2million still owed as part of the initial transfer. Emblen's second three-year spell saw him gain favour with the Wolves fans as he made the attacking midfield role his own. It ended in 2001 when he moved to Norwich City for £500,000.[2]

Emblen started just six games in a two-year spell with the Canaries because of chronic knee injury problems and spent the last few months of his contract on loan to Walsall (in two separate spells), whom he joined permanently on a two-year deal in June 2003. Upon leaving Walsall in 2005, Emblen moved to New Zealand to join the now-defunct New Zealand Knights. After the Knights ceased playing, Emblen moved to Waitakere United.[4]

Coaching career

Emblen was appointed player-coach of Waitakere United from 2009 to 2012, winning three successive ASB Premiership titles during his time at the club. In 2013, he was appointed in the same role at Western Springs, taking them from the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 to the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier within two years.[2]

In 2012, he managed the New Zealand U23 team at the London Olympics.[4][2] In 2014, he was named as the New Zealand interim head coach, taking charge of two matches; a 4–2 loss to Japan and a goalless draw with South Africa.

In February 2018 he was appointed by Anthony Hudson as assistant coach of Colorado Rapids where is still one of the assistant coaches.[5]

Personal life

His brother, Paul Emblen, was also a professional footballer, playing for Charlton Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers.

References
  1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 Presented By TOYOTA — List Of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 December 2008. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
  2. "Where are they now? Neil Emblen – with picture gallery". BirminghamMail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  3. "Crystal Palace 2 Scunthorpe 0". Sporting Life. 3 January 1998. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  4. "Former Wolverhampton Wanderer Neil Emblen aims to take New Zealand's footballers to Rio 2016". The Telegraph. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. "Neil Emblen". coloradorapids.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
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