MacFarlane outside Palmerston Park, Dumfries in 2008 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Neil MacFarlane [1] | ||
Date of birth | 10 October 1977 | ||
Place of birth | Dunoon, Scotland | ||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Brentford B (head coach) Scotland U19 (head coach) | ||
Youth career | |||
–1999 | Glasgow Amateurs U21 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1999–2000 | Queen's Park | 36 | (0) |
2000–2001 | Kilmarnock | 0 | (0) |
2000–2001 | → Queen's Park (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2001 | → Clyde (loan) | 7 | (0) |
2001–2002 | Airdrieonians | 28 | (3) |
2002–2006 | Heart of Midlothian | 73 | (0) |
2006 | Aberdeen | 6 | (0) |
2006–2007 | Gretna | 5 | (0) |
2007–2009 | Queen of the South | 61 | (1) |
2009–2010 | Greenock Morton | 16 | (0) |
2010 | Airdrie United | 1 | (0) |
2011 | Annan Athletic | 15 | (1) |
Total | 256 | (5) | |
Managerial career | |||
2015 | Coventry City (caretaker) | ||
2018–2019 | Kidderminster Harriers | ||
2019– | Brentford B | ||
2024– | Scotland U19 | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Neil MacFarlane (born 10 October 1977) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who is head coach of Brentford B and Scotland U19. MacFarlane played as a defensive midfielder at a number of clubs at all four levels of the Scottish league system. After his retirement as a player in 2011, he became a coach and was appointed to his first managerial role at English non-League club Kidderminster Harriers in 2018.
McFarlane was born in Dunoon. A defensive midfielder, he began his senior career with Queen's Park in 1999 and won the Third Division title in his first season with the club. [3] He moved to Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock in July 2000, [4] but failed to make a first team appearance and instead spent much of his single season at Rugby Park away on loan at former club Queen's Park and Clyde. [5] MacFarlane transferred to First Division club Airdrieonians in July 2001 and though his 2001–02 season was ended prematurely by a cruciate ligament injury, [6] he was a part of the team which was victorious in the 2001 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. [5] [7]
Though still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury suffered while an Airdrieonians player, MacFarlane signed a one-year contract with Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian in July 2002, on a part-time wage. [8] He broke into the team in November 2002 and progressed sufficiently to sign an improved contract in January 2003. [9] MacFarlane signed a new two-year contract at the end of the 2004–05 season and was a regular member of the team through to the early months of the 2005–06 season, [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] when he fell out of favour under manager George Burley. [15] A move to Dundee United was blocked by the Hearts board in August 2005 and after suffering a knee injury, [16] [17] he made just one appearance under Burley's successor, [14] Graham Rix, before departing the club in January 2006. [15] MacFarlane made 95 appearances and scored one goal during his 3+1⁄2 years at Tynecastle. [5]
MacFarlane spent the second half of the 2005–06 season with Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen, [15] before signing a two-year contract with First Division club Gretna in May 2006. [18] [19] Injuries restricted him to just eight appearances during the 2006–07 season, [20] but he still received a First Division winners' medal. [21] After his Gretna contract was terminated in May 2007, [20] MacFarlane moved to First Division club Queen of the South on a two-year contract. [22] He had two seasons as a mainstay of the Queens team, [23] [24] reaching the 2008 Scottish Cup Final and qualifying for the UEFA Cup, [25] in which he had previously competed while a Hearts player. [12] [13] MacFarlane wound down his career with spells at lower division clubs Greenock Morton, Airdrie United and Annan Athletic and retired in 2011. [3]
MacFarlane began his coaching career in 2012 and served as assistant to former Heart of Midlothian teammate Steven Pressley at Falkirk, Coventry City, Fleetwood Town and Pafos. [26] In February and March 2015, he briefly held the role of caretaker manager at Coventry City, before leaving the club at the end of the 2014–15 season. [27] MacFarlane joined Milton Keynes Dons as first team coach to manager Robbie Neilson in December 2016 and stayed in the role until Neilson's sacking in January 2018. [28] [29]
On 25 May 2018, MacFarlane was announced as manager of National League North club Kidderminster Harriers. [30] He had briefly coached at the club in 2015. [30] Tasked with promotion, [31] MacFarlane presided over 27 matches, winning 12, [32] before he agreed to part ways with the club in January 2019. [33]
On 30 May 2019, MacFarlane joined Brentford as head coach of the club's B team. [26] As a result of first team head coach Thomas Frank testing positive for COVID-19, MacFarlane presided over the first team's 2–1 FA Cup third round victory over Middlesbrough on 9 January 2021. [34] He won competitive cup competitions in each of the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons, with the London Senior Cup and Premier League Cups respectively. [35] [36]
In August 2019, MacFarlane was announced as head coach of Scotland U19. [37]
Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Queen's Park | 1999–00 [38] | Scottish Third Division | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | 3 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
Kilmarnock | 2000–01 [39] | Scottish Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | ― | 0 | 0 | ||
Queen's Park (loan) | 2000–01 [39] | Scottish Second Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 8 | 0 | |||
Total | 44 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | 3 | 0 | 50 | 0 | |||
Clyde (loan) | 2000–01 [39] | Scottish First Division | 7 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | ― | 7 | 0 | ||||
Airdrieonians | 2001–02 [7] | Scottish First Division | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ― | 5 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 37 | 4 | |
Heart of Midlothian | 2002–03 [11] | Scottish Premier League | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | ― | 24 | 0 | ||
2003–04 [12] | Scottish Premier League | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | ― | 35 | 0 | ||
2004–05 [13] | Scottish Premier League | 20 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | ― | 32 | 1 | ||
2005–06 [14] | Scottish Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | 4 | 0 | |||
Total | 73 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ― | 95 | 1 | |||
Aberdeen | 2005–06 [14] | Scottish Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 6 | 0 | |||
Gretna | 2006–07 [40] | Scottish First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 2 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
Queen of the South | 2007–08 [23] | Scottish First Division | 28 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 1 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
2008–09 [24] | Scottish First Division | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
Total | 61 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 72 | 1 | ||
Greenock Morton | 2009–10 [1] | Scottish First Division | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | 2 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
2010–11 [41] | Scottish First Division | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Total | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |||
Airdrie United | 2010–11 [41] | Scottish Second Division | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | ― | 1 | 0 | ||||
Annan Athletic | 2010–11 [41] | Scottish Third Division | 15 | 1 | ― | ― | ― | 4 [lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 19 | 1 | |||
Career total | 256 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 316 | 8 |
Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
Coventry City (caretaker) | ![]() | 23 February 2015 | 3 March 2015 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | [42] |
Kidderminster Harriers | ![]() | 25 May 2018 | 7 January 2019 | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 44.44 | [32] |
Total | 29 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 44.83 | ― |
Gretna
Brentford B
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