Denis Neville

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Denis Neville

Denis Neville (born May 6, 1915 in London , † January 11, 1995 in Rotterdam ) was a British football coach .

life and career

Neville, a cockney , played in amateur clubs as a youth in Finchley and Barnet . He would have liked to play for Arsenal - but it was only enough for the then third division Fulham FC , which signed him when he was 17 years old. Neville played in defense or midfield for the West London club, which rose to the second division in 1932. After the British entered the war in 1939, he served in the army. After the war, he initially returned to Fulham FC, but decided in the 1945/46 season to end his active career and become a coach. In addition to his training as a trainer, he also trained as a referee at the FA .

Neville's first coaching station was in Denmark. He looked after the Odense BK and in 1948 the national team at the Olympic Games in his hometown of London. In the game for the bronze medal, the English-led Danes defeated the British amateurs 5-3. There followed three years with Atalanta Bergamo in Italy , before he moved to Antwerp club Berchem Sport in Belgium . In 1954 the FA sent him to India, where he worked for nine months as an advisor to Indian clubs and associations.

During this time, the Dutch first division team Sparta Rotterdam contacted him . In the Netherlands, professional football was introduced in 1954; Sparta signed Neville for the 1955/56 season, the last season before the Eredivisie was introduced . The employment relationship was supposed to last a year, but Neville stayed eight years and led Sparta through the most successful period in its history. The first season under Neville ended Sparta as champions of Hoofdklasse A, but was only fourth of four participants in the championship round. But through the regional championship the qualification for the new Eredivisie, the first professional league, was reached. After finishing eighth and ninth, the Dutch championship followed in the 1958/59 season - the sixth national title for Sparta, the last of which was won in 1915. Already in 1958 and again in 1962 Sparta captured the KNVB Cup under Neville . In 1963, Neville was looking for a new challenge and switched to Scheveningen Holland Sport . With the help of young amateur players, he led the club to the top of the Eerste Divisie .

In September Neville, in addition to his job at Holland Sport, took on the role of Bondscoach for the Dutch national team after Elek Schwartz moved to Benfica Lisbon . For a little over a year he was responsible for Oranje ; there were two wins, three defeats and three draws when he then cleared the place for Georg Keßler .

Private

Neville was married to a Dutch woman. He spent the last months of his life in a Humanitas clinic in Rotterdam, where he died in January 1995 at the age of 79.

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personal data
SURNAME Neville, Denis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British football coach
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH London , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1995
Place of death Rotterdam , Netherlands