Lucas Neill

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Lucas Neill
Personal information
Full name	Lucas Edward Neill
Date of birth	9 March 1978 (1978-03-09) (age 31)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Right back / Centre back
Club information
Current club	free agent
Youth career
1994–1995	Wakehurst Tigers Manly United AIS
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–2001 2001–2007 2007–2009	Millwall Blackburn Rovers West Ham United	152 (13) 188 0(5) 078 0(1)
National team2
1997 1999–2000 1996–	Australia U20 Australia U23 Australia	008 0(3) 013 0(0) 050 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:49, 16 April 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 16:23, 11 February 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Lucas Edward Neill (born 9 March 1978 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian footballer who most recently played for West Ham United. He is a right back who can also play at centre back. The defender has shown his versatility by playing at left back as well. Neill is also the captain of the Australian national team "The Socceroos". He was a member of the Australian squad which competed in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] Background

Lucas' father Edward is originally from Northern Ireland and played for Belfast sides Linfield Swifts, Cliftonville and Brantwood.^{[citation needed]} He left Northern Ireland for Australia in 1969.^{[citation needed]} Neill grew up in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and was a student at Wakehurst Primary School, in Belrose, and St. Augustine's College, in Brookvale, before attending the Australian Institute of Sport on a football scholarship in 1994-95.^[1]

[edit] Club career

[edit] Millwall

Neill joined Millwall on a free transfer in November 1995, making his debut on 17 February against Luton Town in 1996.^[2] In almost six years at The Den, he made 174 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals.^[3] In September 2001, Neill, by then the longest serving player at the club, submitted a transfer request^[2] and shortly after, signed for Blackburn Rovers for an initial fee of £600,000 plus up to £400,000 more depending on appearances.^[4]

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

Neill played his first game for Blackburn in September 2001 against Sunderland and scored his first Blackburn goal later that month against Bolton Wanderers. Neill is a combative, versatile player. He has played in all defensive positions during his professional career and is a key member for both his club and national team.

Neill was well-regarded by Blackburn Rovers supporters largely due to his never-say-die, determined attitude. He was one of Blackburn Rovers' most consistent performers and held the right back position for over five years without any competition.

Neill's combative and committed style of play in the Premier League attracted criticism in 2003-04 at a time when Blackburn had been criticised routinely for their aggressive play. He broke the leg of Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher when his trailing leg caught that of the Liverpool player in the fifth game of the 2003-04 season in a tackle at Ewood Park. Carragher, a popular home-grown Liverpool player, was sidelined for six months and the incident sparked a war of words between Gérard Houllier and Graeme Souness after Neill and his manager did not apologise for 48 hours.

Johan Neeskens, who became assistant to Barcelona manager Frank Rijkard for the 2006-07 season, said that Neill "could play for any of the best clubs".^[5] On 4 August 2006 he announced he would not sign a new four-year contract for Blackburn Rovers. The player's agent, Peter Harrison, said "He has enjoyed his time there [Blackburn], he loves the club and the fans, he just feels it is time for a change."^[6] On 30 August, Liverpool reportedly made a £2 million bid for Neill; however, this bid was rejected by Blackburn. The club wanted Stephen Warnock in part exchange for Neill; however Liverpool were not prepared to let the left-back go.^[7] In late November, rumours emerged that Chelsea^[8] or even Barcelona^[9] were also interested in his signature. Neill, once a cult hero at Blackburn left under something of a storm and is now extremely unpopular amongst Blackburn fans. He was booed and barracked on his return to Ewood Park in March 2007.^[10]

[edit] West Ham United

However in January 2007 Neill turned his back on a un-confirmed bid from Liverpool in favour of West Ham United. The deal was confirmed on 20 January and was formally completed on 23 January following the successful transfer of Stephen Warnock from Liverpool to Blackburn. Neill was accused of his primary motivating factor being money, but he later refuted these claims, stating the move was for purely footballing reasons ^[11]. Neill later alleged to the media that Liverpool hadn't made him feel truly wanted, and that he had not even spoken to manager Rafael Benítez.

On 10 February, 2007 Neill played his first Premiership match for Hammers against Watford, where he picked up a knee injury. ^[12]

On 4 March 2007 he captained the team for the first time during a 3-4 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur and went on to play every remaining game of the season. His passionate, attacking style of play quickly won over those sceptical about his motives at the club, though he continued to be criticised outside of the club. Eventually he played a key part in West Ham's escape from relegation that had looked likely when he arrived.

It was announced by West Ham United on 27 July 2007 that Neill had been awarded the permanent position of team captain following Nigel Reo-Coker's transfer to Aston Villa.^[13] Neill made his first appearance as team captain in the 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic on 25 August 2007.^[14]

Neill scored his only goal for West Ham in the 3-2 away defeat to West Brom on 14 September 2008.^[15]

On 3 June 2009 West Ham United announced that Neill had rejected a one year contract extension with the club and was now seeking another club.^[16] However, on 3 July 2009, Sky Sports reported that Neill was in talks with the club regarding a return.^[17]

[edit] International career

In October 1996, Neill became the second youngest player, after Harry Kewell, to debut for the Australian national team^[18] when he played in a friendly game against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, aged 18 years and 7 months.^[19] He also competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney with the Australian men's team, the Olyroos.

Lucas Neill bringing down Fabio Grosso in the penalty area giving Italy a spot kick which ultimatly knocked Australia out of the 2006 World Cup.

On 16 November 2005 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, Neill helped Australia qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup playing the entire game and scoring the Socceroos' second penalty in a shoot-out against Uruguay, after aggregate scores were tied at 1-1 following extra-time. He was named Man of the Match for this game.^[20]

Neill was an integral member of the Australian squad for the 2006 World Cup, wearing the #2 jersey. He started all four games in the position of centre-back. In the closing minutes during Australia's Round of 16 game against Italy, Neill had a controversial injury-time penalty awarded against him. As Italy's Fabio Grosso dribbled across the penalty area, Neill unsuccessfully attempted to tackle the ball, stopping on the ground directly in Grosso's path. Neill remained motionless but Grosso still fell to the ground. Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo, close to the action with a clear view, ruled a foul against Grosso by Neill. Francesco Totti converted the penalty kick to score and give the Italians a 1-0 victory, knocking Australia out of the cup.

Following the World Cup, Neill expressed his desire to captain his national side and on 6 October 2006 was named as the 50th player to captain Australia. On 7 October, 2006 he made his debut as the Socceroo's captain in a 1-1 friendly against Paraguay, in Brisbane. Four days later, in Sydney, he captained Australia again in an Asian Cup qualifying game against Bahrain, which Australia won 2-0.^[21] On 2 June, 2007, Neill captained the Socceroos again in a friendly match against Uruguay at Sydney's Telstra Stadium in which Australia lost 2-1.

On 13 July 2007, in the dying seconds of the Socceroo's 3-1 loss to Iraq, Neill verbally abused the referee. He received his second yellow card and was sent off, capping a disappointing performance by the Australian side. In the quarter finals of the Asian Cup, Neill missed a crucial penalty in a shootout against Japan which resulted in Australia's elimination from the cup.^[22]

[edit] Career Statistics

(correct as of 16 May 2009)

[edit] Personal life

On the 2 June 2008, his long term girlfriend, Lindsay Morris, gave birth to twins; a boy and a girl named Toby and Paige.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lucas Neill FIFA competition record
• West Ham profile
• FFA - Socceroo profile
• OzFootball profile
• Lucas Neill career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Australia squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Milosevic • 2 Colosimo • 3 Lazaridis • 4 Foxe • 5 Skoko • 6 Laybutt • 7 Emerton • 8 Neill • 9 Viduka • 10 Wehrman • 11 Zane • 12 Blatsis • 13 Grella • 14 Rizzo • 15 Bresciano • 16 Čulina • 17 Curcija • 18 Turnbull • Coach: Blanco

v • d • e Australia squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Muscat • 3 Moore • 4 Neill • 5 T. Vidmar • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Cahill • 11 Chipperfield • 12 Petkovic • 13 Wilkshire • 14 Colosimo • 15 Aloisi • 16 Zdrilic • 17 McKain • 18 Kalac • 19 Čulina • 20 Miličević • 21 Elrich • 22 Thompson • 23 Sterjovski • Coach: Farina

v • d • e Australia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Moore • 4 Cahill • 5 Čulina • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Lazaridis • 12 Čović • 13 Grella • 14 Chipperfield • 15 Aloisi • 16 Beauchamp • 17 Thompson • 18 Kalac • 19 Kennedy • 20 Wilkshire • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Hiddink

v • d • e Australia squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Kisnorbo • 4 Cahill • 5 Čulina • 6 Beauchamp • 7 Emerton • 8 Wilkshire • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Thompson • 12 Jones • 13 Grella • 14 Holman • 15 Aloisi • 16 Thwaite • 17 Valeri • 18 Petkovic • 19 Carle • 20 Carney • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Arnold