Neil Webb
Encyclopedia
Neil John Webb 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...

 former footballer and television pundit. He played as a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 and defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 between 1980 and 1997 notably for Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

, Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 and Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. Webb also played for Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

, Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

, Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 and Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 side Instant-Dict.

Club career

Webb joined Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

 on leaving school in 1979 and made his first-team debut in February 1980. He became the youngest ever scorer for the team. In July 1982 he transferred to Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 for £87,500. At Fratton Park he was a regular first-team player and helped them win promotion to the Second Division (as Third Division champions) in his first season, and over the next two seasons they came close to reaching the First Division.

In 1985, Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 manager Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...

 paid Portsmouth £250,000 for Webb. At Forest he developed into a top class midfielder. During his time on Trentside he won the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 in 1989 (scoring in the final against Luton) and became a regular member of the England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 national team. Webb was one of the Forest players who had to cope with the horrors of the Hillsborough disaster
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....

 during the opening minutes of their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool. Webb played in the rescheduled game at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (football)
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...

, which Liverpool won 3–1. He scored Forest's goal.

His goalscoring record was highly impressive for a midfielder during his time at Nottingham Forest, exceeding that of many strikers at the time. He managed 14 league goals in both of his first two seasons at the club, in 1986–87 from just 32 games. He scored 13 times in the 1987–88 league campaign, though his goalscoring totally was lower in 1988–89 (six goals from 30 games) it did nothing to diminish his reputation as a first class midfielder.

In July 1989 he joined Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. The transfer fee of £1.5 million was determined by a transfer tribunial (Forest manager Brian Clough, reluctant for Webb to leave, offered to pay this to keep him). Webb scored on his league debut on 19 August 1989, when they achieved a 4–1 home win over defending league champions Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 on the opening day of the 1989–90 season.

He joined United at a time when they were entering their fourth season under the management of Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

, but had yet to win a major trophy under him in spite of heavy spending on new players – with Webb arriving around the same time as Danny Wallace
Danny Wallace (footballer)
David Lloyd "Danny" Wallace is an English former footballer who played for Southampton, Manchester United, Millwall, Birmingham City and Wycombe Wanderers. He won one full cap for England. His football career was ended prematurely by the effects of multiple sclerosis.-Southampton:Wallace was born...

, Mike Phelan
Mike Phelan
Michael Christopher "Mike" Phelan , also known as Mick Phelan or Micky Phelan, is an English football coach, former player, and current assistant manager of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson....

 and Gary Pallister
Gary Pallister
Gary Andrew Pallister is an English former footballer, most noted for his nine-year spell at Manchester United from 1989 until 1998...

.

Unfortunately, after just a few games at United, Webb snapped his achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...

 while playing a match for England against Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...

. He never returned to his previous form, suffering from weight problems and other injuries. Webb was still a precise passer of the ball and was included in the England 1990 World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

 squad. He also helped Manchester United win the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 in 1990, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

 in 1991, and Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 in 1992.

In the 1990 FA Cup final, he memorably hit a clinical 50 yard pass to Lee Martin who subsequently scored the winning goal in the FA Cup Final replay.

He played in 31 out of 42 First Division games for Manchester United in 1991–92, but missed the final few games of the season due to a rift with manager Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

 – some fans even blamed United's failure to win the league title that season on Webb's absence from the final games.

Webb only played one more game for United before he returned to Nottingham Forest for £800,000 on 23 November 1992. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=44408

His second spell at Forest was unsuccessful, as he could not win a regular first-team place because of the emergence of other players like Steve Stone
Steve Stone (footballer)
Steven Brian "Steve" Stone is an English former footballer and now part of the coaching staff at Newcastle United.-Club career:...

 and Lars Bohinen
Lars Bohinen
Lars Roar Bohinen is a Norwegian former footballer.-Club level:His first professional club was Vålerenga, and he played for Viking, Young Boys Bern, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County...

. He made just nine league appearances in 1992–93 as Forest were relegated, but when manager Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...

 retired and was succeeded by Frank Clark, he had more first team opportunities, playing 21 league games and scoring three goals as Forest were promoted back to the Premier League as Division One runners-up.

Webb never played league football for Forest again after the 1994 promotion, though he remained contracted to the club for another two years.

He had a spell on loan back at Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

 in the 1995–96 season before finally leaving Forest for good in the summer of 1996 and signing for Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

. He then joined Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 where he made 36 appearances and scored 6 goals in the Isthmian League
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore officially known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area...

, before joining Weymouth
Weymouth F.C.
Weymouth F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.-History:Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year...

 as player-coach in 1997.

In a vote to compile the Royals' best-ever eleven, Webb was voted on the team in central midfield.

International career

After excelling in his first two seasons of top flight football with Nottingham Forest, Webb earned recognition from England manager Bobby Robson
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....

, who selected him for his international debut against West Germany on 9 September 1987 at the age of 24. His first goal came against Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...

 on 14 October that year, in an 8-0 victory at Wembley
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

 in a Euro 88 qualifier. He appeared in two of England's group games at Euro 88 (which all ended in defeat), but his next international appearance - against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 in a friendly on 14 September 1988 - he scored the only goal in the game at Wembley. On 3 June 1989, he scored the third international goal of his career with a 3-0 World Cup qualifier
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

 victory over Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...

, again at Wembley. Despite missing the bulk of the 1989-90 season at Manchester United with injury, he was included in England's 1990 World Cup squad and made his solitary appearance of the competition in the third place playoff defeat by Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

. On 12 May 1992, he scored what would be his final goal for England in a 1-0 friendly win over Hungary
Hungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....

 in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

. He would make four more international appearances for England, the last cap of his 26-cap, four-goal international career coming on 17 June 1992, on the fateful night that England lost 2-1 to hosts Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...

 in their final Euro 92 group game, and squandered hopes of reaching the last four of the eight-club competition.

Management career

After having to give up playing football, from June to December 1997 he was player-coach of Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 Southern Division side Weymouth
Weymouth F.C.
Weymouth F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.-History:Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year...

, but quit after just 70 days. His next spell in management with non-league Reading Town
Reading Town F.C.
Reading Town Football Club are a Semi-Professional English football club in the Hellenic League Premier Division, based in Reading, Berkshire.The club previously played in the Combined Counties Football League, but with the agreement of the leagues involved, swapped places with Badshot Lea in time...

 in 2001 was also short-lived.

After football

After Webb left Reading, he could occasionally be found selling programmes at Reading's Madejski Stadium
Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium is a stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium is the home of Reading Football Club and to the rugby union club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon...

.

He soon started working with The Score Television Network in Canada as their English football correspondent for their "Sportsworld" and "Footy Show" programs. He is on every Sunday, and gives his opinion on the happenings of the Premier League and the world of football. He finished his job as a postman, and worked for Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

, a Championship side.

Private life

Neil Webb's ex-wife Shelley Webb
Shelley Webb
Shelley Webb is a TV presenter, writer, and sports journalist and author of the book "Footballer's Wives Tell Their Tales".She married former England footballer Neil Webb, and the couple had two children Luke and Josh, who today are both young professional footballers.When Neil moved back to...

 became a TV presenter, becoming a real footballers' wives interviewee, and then wrote the book called Footballers' Wives. Webb and Shelley have two sons, Luke
Luke Webb
Luke Webb is an English footballer who most recently played for Hereford United as a midfielder.He signed for Arsenal at the age of 11 and progressed through the various youth teams. He was a regular for Arsenal U18s with 20 appearances and 2 goals in the 2004-05 season...

 and Josh, who are playing football; Luke with Hereford United and Josh at Walton and Hersham F.C. Luke Webb previously played with Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 Under-18s and Josh with Reading F.C.
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

's youth teams. Neil became a postman and was featured in the Observer Sport Supplement in a "where are they now" feature and is currently working for a transport company. He is also a regular guest on Talksport.
His current wife Dawn Webb works for the NHS in human resources in Reading

Honours

Nottingham Forest
  • League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    : 1988–89
    1989 Football League Cup Final
    The 1989 Littlewoods Cup Final was a football match played on 9 April 1989 between Nottingham Forest and the 1988 League Cup winners, Luton Town at Wembley Stadium. Nottingham Forest claimed victory in the 29th League Cup final with a 3–1 victory...



Manchester United
  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

    : 1989–90
    1990 FA Cup Final
    The 1990 FA Cup Final was a football match contested by Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The match finished 3–3 after extra time. Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes scored for United; Gary O'Reilly and Ian Wright for Palace...

  • League Cup: 1991–92
    1992 Football League Cup Final
    The 1992 Football League Cup Final took place at Wembley Stadium, and was played between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.Manchester United won 1–0 in what was their first League cup win...

  • European Cup Winners' Cup
    UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
    The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

    : 1990–91
  • European Super Cup: 1991
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