Born in 1967, Neil is married with two children and is an electrician.

Neil's adult playing career started 1985 with Durham City in the Northern League Division 2 and ended in 2001 at Peterlee in Division 1 of the same league. In between he played for the following Northern League teams, Durham City, Brandon, Seaham Red Star, Murton, Eppleton, Dunston Fed, Chester-le-Street and Peterlee.

Neil also played for the Unibond teams Fleetwood and Gateshead.

Before joining Sunderland RCA, Neil managed Eppleton, Peterlee, Seaham Red Star, Durham City and South Shields.

Neil says:

"My outlook for RCA is to steady the ship in the coming months then to have built a winning team to finish the season in the top six of the second division for this season, then hopefully to move on to gain promotion in the 2008/09 season."