18 Facts About Phil Neal

Philip George Neal was born on 20 February 1951 and is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back.

Phil Neal is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First Divisions, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four European Cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool.

Phil Neal 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.

Phil Neal would go on to be England's assistant manager under Graham Taylor.

Phil Neal began his playing career at Wellingborough Town, before he joined Northampton Town in 1968.

Phil Neal subsequently played in the winning 1978 and 1981 finals, Liverpool beating Club Brugge and Real Madrid respectively.

Phil Neal was the only player to appear in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins of the 1970s and 1980s.

In total, Phil Neal won eight First Divisions, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four European Cups, 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.

Phil Neal played 366 consecutive league matches 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.

Phil Neal departed Anfield after 11 years in 1985, joining Bolton Wanderers as player-manager.

Phil Neal retired from playing in 1989 after more than 700 league appearances and 50 caps for England.

In December 1985, Phil Neal was appointed player-manager of Bolton Wanderers and managed the club for seven years.

Phil Neal's successor was Bruce Rioch, who guided Bolton to promotion from the newly named Division Two in 1993 and to the top flight in 1995.

Phil Neal 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 Phil Neal became caretaker manager until the arrival of Frank Clark on 29 December.

Phil Neal has played for and coached the Liverpool masters side which dominated the Sky Sports Masters series.

In recent years, Phil Neal has worked as a football pundit for various television and radio organisations.

Phil Neal has written two autobiographies, Attack From The Back in 1981 and Life at the Kop in 1986.