James Neale (field hockey)

Jimmy Neale

Personal information
Born	Q4.1945 Colchester, England
Senior career
Years	Team
1966	Colchester
1968–1978	Southgate
National team
Years	Team	Caps	Goals
	Great Britain
	England	42

James N. Neale (born Q4.1945) is a former British hockey international and convicted drug smuggler.

Biography

While paying for Colchester, Neale played for the England U23 squad in 1966. ^[1]

Neale primarily played club hockey for Southgate Hockey Club in the Men's England Hockey League. ^[2]

While at Southgate he played for England at the 1973 Men's Hockey World Cup in Amstelveen ^[3] , captained England ^[4] and was selected by England for the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. ^{[5] [6]}

He was part of the Southgate team that won the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup for three successive years in 1976, 1977 and 1978. ^[7]

In 1980, Neale a lawyer by trade, was struck off the Law Society for breaking accounting rules. ^[8]

In 2002, Neale was convicted of smuggling 270,000 ecstasy tablets into Australia. ^[9] He received a life sentence, which was later reduced to 15 years. ^[10]

References

1. "England hockey XI" . Belfast Telegraph. 23 March 1966. Retrieved 6 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Lancashire players in trial" . Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition). 18 February 1969. Retrieved 3 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "England keep hockey cup hopes alive" . Hull Daily Mail. 27 August 1973. Retrieved 3 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "England trials at Aldridge" . Walsall Observer. 22 February 1974. Retrieved 3 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "England name hockey squad" . Liverpool Daily Post. 19 December 1974. Retrieved 3 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Hat-tricks, hospitality and honour: recalling the 1975 men's Hockey World Cup". The Hockey Museum. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
7. "Europes's other champions chase a hat-trick too". Evening News (London). 12 May 1978. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
8. "Champagne Jimmy's Life Goes Pop" . Daily Mirror. 5 June 1980. Retrieved 3 July 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Former hockey star faces jail for drug smuggling racket". The Independent. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
10. "Triads, drugs and high-rise death: a jail tale". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2025.