Gordon Neilson (footballer)
{{short description|Scottish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox football biography
|name = Gordon Neilson
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|5|28|df=y}}
|birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
|death_date =
|death_place =
|position = Right winger
|youthyears1 =
|youthclubs1 = Glasgow United
|youthyears2 = 1964–1966
|youthclubs2 = Arsenal
|years1 =1966–1968
|clubs1 = Arsenal
|caps1 =14
|goals1 =2
|years2 = 1968–1972
|clubs2 = Brentford
|caps2 = 92
|goals2 = 15
|years3 =1972–1973
|clubs3 = Hillingdon Borough
|caps3 =31
|goals3 =9
}}
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.
Playing career
= Arsenal =
A right winger, Neilson joined First Division club Arsenal from amateur club Glasgow United in April 1964.{{Cite web |title=Gordon Neilson |url=https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/gordon-neilson |access-date=14 June 2015 |website=arsenal.com}}{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Graham |title=Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006 |last2=Coumbe |first2=Frank |publisher=Yore Publications |year=2006 |isbn=978-0955294914 |location=Harefield |pages=114}} 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. 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.{{Cite web |title=Gordon Neilson |url=http://www.11v11.com/players/gordon-neilson-29564/ |access-date=14 June 2015 |website=11v11.com}} He made just one further appearance during the 1965–66 season, in a 1–0 victory over Leicester City on the final day.
Neilson had to wait until 19 November 1966 to make his next appearance, which came in a 1–0 victory over Fulham. He scored his first goal for the club in the following game, a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. 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. Neilson's run in the team came to an end in late February 1967 and failed to make any further appearances. He departed Highbury in October 1968, having made 17 appearances and scored three goals for the Gunners.
= Brentford =
Neilson signed for Fourth Division club Brentford for a £10,000 fee in October 1968.{{Cite book |last=Croxford |first=Mark |title=The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies |last2=Lane |first2=David |last3=Waterman |first3=Greville |publisher=Legends Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1906796709 |location=Sunbury, Middlesex |page=357}} In a time of financial uncertainty for the Griffin Park club, Neilson's £10,000 fee represented a major gamble. 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. 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. Neilson was released after the season and made 104 appearances and scored 15 goals during his time with the Bees.
= Hillingdon Borough =
Neilson ended his career with a spell at Southern League Premier Division club Hillingdon Borough during the 1972–73 season.
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.{{Cite news |title=Where Are They Now? Brentford Division Four promotion-winners 1971–72 |language=en-GB |work=The League Paper |url=http://www.theleaguepaper.com/featured/7943/where-are-they-now-brentford-division-four-promotion-winners-1971-72/ |access-date=16 July 2017}}
Honours
Brentford
- Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1971–72
Career statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup ! colspan="2" |League Cup !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals
!Apps !Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="3" |Arsenal
| rowspan="2" |First Division |2 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |2 |0 | ||||||
| 1966–67
|12 |2 |3 |1 |0 |0 |15 |3 | ||||||
| colspan="2" |Total
!14 !2 !3 !1 !0 !0 !17 !3 | ||||||
| rowspan="5" |Brentford
|1968–69{{Cite book |title=100 Years Of Brentford |publisher=Brentford FC |year=1989 |isbn=0951526200 |editor-last=White |editor-first=Eric |pages=389–391}} | rowspan="4" |Fourth Division |27 |6 |2 |0 | colspan="2" |— |29 |6 | ||||||
| 1969–70
|34 |3 |2 |0 |3 |0 |39 |3 | ||||||
| 1970–71
|19 |4 |3 |0 |1 |0 |23 |4 | ||||||
| 1971–72
|12 |2 |0 |0 |1 |0 |13 |2 | ||||||
| colspan="2" |Total
!92 !15 !7 !0 !5 !0 !104 !15 | ||||||
| colspan="3" |Career total
!106 | 17 | 10 | 1
!5 !0 | 121 | 18 |
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Gordon}}
Category:Footballers from Glasgow
Category:Scottish men's footballers
Category:Brentford F.C. players
Category:English Football League players
Category:Hillingdon Borough F.C. players
Category:Southern Football League players