Neil Pointon

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Neil Pointon
Personnel
Surname Neil Geoffrey Pointon
birthday November 28, 1964
place of birth Warsop ,  England
size 178 cm
position Full-back (left)
Juniors
Years station
1979-1981 Nottingham Forest
1981-1982 Scunthorpe United
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1982-1985 Scunthorpe United 159 (2)
1985-1990 Everton FC 102 (5)
1990-1992 Manchester City 74 (2)
1992-1995 Oldham Athletic 95 (3)
1995-1998 Heart of Midlothian 67 (3)
1998-2000 Walsall FC 61 (0)
2000 Chesterfield FC 10 (0)
2000-2001 Hednesford Town 22 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2000-2001 Hednesford Town
1 Only league games are given.

Neil Geoffrey Pointon (born November 28, 1964 in Warsop ) is a former English football player . The left full-back , who had his strengths in duels and flanks as well as in long throw-ins, won the English championship with Everton in 1987 and was still with Manchester City , Oldham Athletic and in Scotland Heart of Midlothian for others in the 1990s First division clubs active.

Athletic career

Via Scunthorpe to Everton FC (1982–1990)

After first joining the youth division of Nottingham Forest in June 1979 , Pointon moved two years later to the youth division of Scunthorpe United . Even before receiving his first professional contract in the 1982/83 season, he made his league debut there on February 6, 1982 against Torquay United (0: 2) and after relegation to the fourth division he was immediately an integral part of a team that played in Spring 1983 succeeded in returning to the third division. However, the young left-back was only able to enjoy this respectable success for a short time and although he was only used once less than in the previous year with 45 league appearances in the 1983/84 season, he went straight back to the fourth division. After a futile attempt at promotion, Pointon left the club shortly after the start of the 1985/86 season in November 1985 in the direction of the reigning English champions Everton .

In Everton, after numerous injuries, there was a need for action on the left-wing defense, mainly because Pat Van Den Hauwe , who normally acts there , had to help out in the center. On November 9, 1985, Pointon made his debut in a 6-1 win against Arsenal and after two other substitutions, he played his way into the regular line-up shortly before Christmas, before an injury incapacitated him at the end of March 1986 and he thereby lost in the final missed the FA Cup against local rivals Liverpool (1: 3). Although he won the English championship with the "Toffees" in the subsequent 1986/87 season , his contribution was limited to a short period between late November 1986 and late January 1987 as a temporary solution with twelve competitive appearances in a row on the left. Otherwise Van Den Hauwe or Paul Power were usually preferred to him. Nevertheless, he had accumulated enough games to receive an official medal. Although he showed his most consistent performances in Everton in the 1987/88 season, especially in the second half of the season, he was further behind Van den Hauwe in the ranking. When he left the club in the 1989/90 season and Neil McDonald, who had been bought as a right-back the year before, was pulled to the left after eight initial appearances at Pointon, his departure was announced soon, which finally came in July 1990 with the transfer to the first division rivals Manchester City for a transfer fee of £ 600,000 and in exchange for Andy Hinchcliffe .

Manchester City & Oldham Athletic (1990-1995)

In the two years for the "Citizens" Pointon was a regular player and with a late winning goal on his second outing against Aston Villa , he quickly captured the hearts of the new supporters. His most successful year in sport to date was the 1991/92 season, when he was a key player in a team with 39 league appearances that, like in the previous year, once again conquered fifth place and the club three years after being promoted to the English elite class established.

When the Premier League went into its first year for the 1992/93 season, Pointon hired at Oldham Athletic , which was then active in the highest English league, under coach Joe Royle . There he was with his duel strength in defense and the flank runs on the offensive an important factor in the fight for relegation and after a tight "rescue" in the first year he rose in the 1993/94 season with the "Latics" as penultimate in the second division. There he stayed with the club and played a further 36 league games by October 1995. His long cut from the encounter against Port Vale , which measured more than 40 cm, received special media attention . After four appearances in the first six games in the 1995/96 season, the coach Graeme Sharp - a former teammate from Pointon in Everton - then sorted him out and in early October 1995 he let him move to the Scottish first division club Heart of Midlothian for 50,000 pounds .

Last career stations (1995-2001)

In the remaining games of the season, Pointon contributed 22 league games and three goals. In addition, he reached the final in the Scottish Cup with the "Hearts" , which was lost 5-1 to Glasgow Rangers . In addition to his traditional position of left-back, Pointon also played more offensive roles in Edinburgh and, as a left attacking midfielder, he went into the qualifying games against Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup Winners' Cup in August 1996 , in which the Hearts after two draws (0: 0, 1: 1 ) were eliminated due to the away goals rule . Pointon's engagement in Scotland lasted until the summer of 1998. His club took revenge for the defeat two years earlier after a 2-1 final win against Rangers without him in the FA Cup in May 1998 and then Pointon returned to England for free to third division club FC Walsall .

With the "Saddlers" he was immediately the leading player, missed only three games in the 1998/99 season and took over the captain's armband in the second half of the season. Thereupon his new employer offered him the extension of his contract, which was initially designed for one year, after he had been promoted to the second division. Until November 1999 he remained a regular on his left defense before Gino Padula ousted him and Pointon then joined the third division club Chesterfield after the turn of the year . In Chesterfield, he helped on his debut with a 1-0 win against Brentford FC to end a series of 21 games without a win. In the relegation battle he seemed to be an important player before an injury forced him to take breaks and he was no longer decisive on the way to relegation over the last place. Thereupon his contract expired in Chesterfield and his further path led him to the Football Conference at Hednesford Town . At the semi-professional club, in addition to his role as a player, he also took on the role of head coach for the first time. This first experience, however, ended disappointingly with a further relegation from bottom of the table in spring 2001.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-1996 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-09-180854-9 , pp. 169 .
  2. ↑ a b Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996–1997 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-85291-571-1 , pp. 195 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7 , pp. 240 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1-85291-626-8 , pp. 256 .
  5. ↑ Neil Pointon in the soccerbase.com database
personal data
SURNAME Pointon, Neil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pointon, Neil Geoffrey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsop