Career
Neal began his playing career at Wellingborough Town, before he joined Northampton Town in 1968. He went on to make 187 appearances for the club before being signed on 9 October 1974 for £66,000 by Liverpool manager Bob Paisley. Paisley had intended to break Neal in as a replacement for the ageing Chris Lawler, meaning that he initially played as a left-back. It would be, however, his industrious and energetic performances at right-back where he made his name.
Neal made his Liverpool début Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park on 16 November 1974, in a game which ended 0–0. Neal made his début 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 the winning penalty in the 1977 European Cup Final, when the Anfield club beat Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome to win the European Cup for the first time. Neal subsequently played in the 1978 and 1981 Finals, Liverpool beating FC Bruges and Real Madrid respectively, before scoring in the 1984 Final against A.S. Roma. This meant that Neal was the only Liverpool player to feature in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins in the 1970s and 1980s.
In total, 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. Throughout his Liverpool career, Neal never missed a league game for the club, playing 365 consecutive matches from 1975 to 1983, finally seeing this sequence brought to a halt after he suffered an injury which forced him out of one solitary match.
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, including 50 caps for England.
Read more about this topic: Phil Neal
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