Gordon Neilson (footballer)

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Gordon Neilson
Personal information
Full name Gordon Neilson [1]
Date of birth (1947-05-28) 28 May 1947 (age 77)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Glasgow United
1964–1966 Arsenal
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1966–1968 Arsenal 14 (2)
1968–1972 Brentford 92 (15)
1972–1973 Hillingdon Borough 31 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon Neilson (born 28 May 1947) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Arsenal and Brentford as a right winger.

Contents

Playing career

Arsenal

A right winger, Neilson joined First Division club Arsenal from amateur club Glasgow United in April 1964. [2] [1] He signed a professional contract in June 1964 and featured for the youth team which lost to Everton in the 1965 FA Youth Cup Final. [2] He also played for the reserve and 'A' teams and had to wait until 12 March 1966 to make his first team debut, which came in a 1–0 league defeat to Everton. [3] He made just one further appearance during the 1965–66 season, in a 1–0 victory over Leicester City on the final day. [3]

Neilson had to wait until 19 November 1966 to make his next appearance, which came in a 1–0 victory over Fulham. [3] He scored his first goal for the club in the following game, a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. [3] He made a breakthrough into the first team and scored his second goal for the club in a 3–0 victory over Blackpool on 21 January 1967 and his third in the following game, a 3–0 FA Cup third round victory over Bristol Rovers. [3] Neilson's run in the team came to an end in late February 1967 and failed to make any further appearances. [3] He departed Highbury in October 1968, having made 17 appearances and scored three goals for the Gunners. [2]

Brentford

Neilson signed for Fourth Division club Brentford for a £10,000 fee in October 1968. [4] In a time of financial uncertainty for the Griffin Park club, Neilson's £10,000 fee represented a major gamble. [1] After making 29 appearances during the 1968–69 season, he made 39 appearances during the 1969–70 season and helped the Bees to a fifth-place finish. [5] His appearances tailed away during the early 1970s and he made just 13 appearances during the 1971–72 season, in which Brentford secured promotion back to Third Division. [5] Neilson was released after the season and made 104 appearances and scored 15 goals during his time with the Bees. [1]

Hillingdon Borough

Neilson ended his career with a spell at Southern League Premier Division club Hillingdon Borough during the 1972–73 season. [1]

Personal life

After his retirement from football, Neilson worked as a computer programmer later for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in the City of London. [6]

Honours

Brentford

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Arsenal 1965–66 [3] First Division 20000020
1966–67 [3] 1223100153
Total1423100173
Brentford 1968–69 [5] Fourth Division 27620—296
1969–70 [5] 3432030393
1970–71 [5] 1943010234
1971–72 [5] 1220010132
Total9215705010415
Career total106171015012118

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 114. ISBN   978-0955294914.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gordon Neilson". arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Gordon Neilson". 11v11.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 357. ISBN   978-1906796709.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 389–391. ISBN   0951526200.
  6. ↑ "Where Are They Now? Brentford Division Four promotion-winners 1971–72". The League Paper. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
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