Neil, Pat


Pat Neil

Pat Neil

Clubs played for: Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Portsmouth (1955-1962).

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Biography: Pat's story is one that many schoolboys can only dream about. Despite only making a handful of league appearances, he played with some of the footballing greats and also gained a degree from Cambridge University. As a youngster, he helped out in the offices at Fratton Park during his school holidays and was occasionally allowed to join in with the training on the pitch. Imagine his surprise when an ankle injury to Peter Harris meant that he was called up to join the first team for a match at Huddersfield. As a result he became Pompey's youngest ever debutant and had to juggle school work with playing duties for the rest of the season. Due to a possible mix up, Pat left the club and joined Wolves the following summer. Here he shared a dressing room (and the bus journey to and from training) with the great Billy Wright. A career in teaching beckoned but he continued to play amateur football at the highest level. His last post was as head teacher at Midhurst intermediate school and since retiring has been extremely active, not least with the running of the Portsmouth former Players' Association.




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