Neil Young (footballer, born 1979)
Neil Young is a retired goalkeeper who played for A-League club Perth Glory. Playing the majority of his career in the Football West State League with Sorrento FC Young had trials with Crewe Alexandra, Stockport County and A.F.C. Bournemouth in England before moving to Victoria to play for the Melbourne Knights in 2008. Young's first movement into coaching came due injury sustained while playing at A-League club Newcastle Jets, while under contract as a Goalkeeper at Perth Glory in 2011 Young was appointed the Head Goalkeeper Coach of A-League club Perth Glory, after a change of manager in 2014 Neil moved to A-League club Newcastle Jets, at the end of Young's 1-year contract, Young was appointed Goalkeeping coach for the Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters working alongside Peter Taylor after the completion of the Indian Super League Tournament and contract expired, Young was appointed the Goalkeeping coach for Thai Premier League side Bangkok Glass F.C., working alongside Aurelio Vidmar, At the expiration of his contract. Young moved to the Thai League 1 Champions Buriram United as Head of Goalkeeping working within the Youth Development Academy. Appointed in July 2019 Young joined A-League club Melbourne City FC, Young is currently the Head Goalkeeper coach of Melbourne City FC.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Young | ||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2008 | Sorrento FC | 303 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Melbourne Knights | 26 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Newcastle Jets | 9 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Perth Glory | 0 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011–2014 | Perth Glory (GK Coach) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Newcastle Jets (GK Coach) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Kerala Blasters (GK Coach) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Bangkok Glass (GK Coach) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Buriram United (Youth) (GK Coach) | ||
| 2019- | Melbourne City (GK Coach) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:47, 13 November 2010 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Newcastle Jets
Signed just prior to the beginning of the 2009-10 Hyundai A-League season as back-up to young Novocastrian goalkeeper Ben Kennedy, Young made his debut for the Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium on 8 November 2009 against North Queensland Fury after a Kennedy was forced out during the warm-up by a groin injury. Although rarely called upon due to the good form of Newcastle's defence, Young enjoyed a solid debut performance and kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory.[1][2]
In the Jets' clash against Gold Coast United on 13 January, Young was kicked in the face by Gold Coast striker Shane Smeltz when diving on a loose ball in the 18-yard box.[3] The injury sidelined Young for the final four games of the regular season and an adverse reaction to medication meant the 30-year-old shot stopper missed the play-off final which Newcastle won 6–5 on penalties.[4] Young was left fighting for his life and remained in intensive care for more than 6 weeks, losing 20 kilograms (25% of his body weight) in the process.[5][6][7] Doctors had to remove his large intestine and he stopped producing white blood cells in addition to bone marrow failure.[8]
Perth Glory
On 28 February 2011, Young signed a two-year contract with A-League outfit Perth Glory, as the substitute goalkeeper to Danny Vuković.[9]
A-League career statistics
(Correct as of 19 February 2012)
| Club | Season | League | Finals | Asia | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Newcastle Jets | 2009–10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Perth Glory | 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
References
- http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/turnaround-puts-jets-back-in-playoffs-mix/1671219.aspx#comments
- http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/neil-young-keeps-nerve-in-impressive-jets-debut/1671220.aspx
- http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=hal_newsdisplay&id=31931&pageid=2773
- http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=hal_newsdisplay&id=32722&pageid=2773
- http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/jets-keeper-back-from-hell/1893148.aspx
- http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/young-leaving-nightmare-behind-after-long-road-to-recovery/1824082.aspx?src=rss
- http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/young-in-jets-thoughts-amid-phoenix-battle/1766900.aspx
- http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/129354,courage-of-deathdefying-jet-neil.aspx
- http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league/news/1046587/Perth-snaps-up-Young Archived 28 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Perth snaps up Young