Christopher Michael "Chris" Neal (born 23 October 1985 in St Albans

St Albans

St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...

) is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Shrewsbury Town.

Career

Neal began his career at Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, but before debuting for the club he went on loan to Conference

Football Conference

The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

 club Tamworth

Tamworth F.C.

Tamworth Football Club are an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Tamworth, Staffordshire. Nicknamed 'The Lambs', they are currently members of the Conference National, the fifth highest tier in the English league system....

, and between 8 January and 15 February 2005 he played five league games and one cup game. He returned to Preston to made his league debut, as a substitute in the 18 February 2005 Championship

Football League Championship

The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 match against Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

. At the end of the season Chester City

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

 attempted to sign him on loan, but were unsuccessful.

In September 2006 he went on loan to League Two

Football League Two

Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 Shrewsbury Town

Shrewsbury Town F.C.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

 for one month, providing cover for Chris MacKenzie

Chris MacKenzie

Christopher Neil Mackenzie is an English football player. He is a goalkeeper and plays for Alfreton Town in the Conference North.Mackenzie has also played for Hereford United and even scored a goal for them...

 after an injury to Ryan Esson

Ryan Esson

Ryan Esson is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper currently playing for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.-Aberdeen:...

. Neal appeared on the Shrewsbury bench for six league matches as well as playing the full 90 minutes of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Football League Trophy

The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

 match against Hereford United

Hereford United F.C.

Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...

.

As part of a third loan out from Preston, Neal sat on the bench for Morecambe

Morecambe F.C.

Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...

 in their Conference National

Conference National

Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 Playoff Final

Conference National Playoff Final 2007

The 2006-07 Conference National Playoff Final took place on 20 May 2007 and was contested between Morecambe and Exeter City. It was held at Wembley Stadium. The attendance of 40,043 was the largest for a Conference National final at that time, 30,000 of whom were supporting Exeter.-Match...

 at Wembley. He did not spend any time on the pitch for the Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 club.

On 2 July 2009 Neal made a permanent move from Preston, rejoining Shrewsbury Town for a nominal fee. His previous spell at the club was at their former stadium and under a different manager.

External links

• Chris Neal player profile at pnefc.net