Neil Wainwright

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Neil Wainwright

| fullname = Neil Wainwright{{Cite book |editor-first = Barry J. |editor-last = Hugman |title = The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10 |year = 2009 |publisher = Mainstream Publishing |isbn = 978-1-84596-474-0 |page = 425 }}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|11|4|df=y}}{{Hugman|20247|accessdate=20 November 2019}}

| birth_place = Warrington, England

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}{{cite book |title=Playfair Football Annual 2003–2004 |editor1-first=Glenda |editor1-last=Rollin |editor2-first=Jack |editor2-last=Rollin |page=48 |publisher=Headline |location=London |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-7553-1313-6}}

| position = Midfielder

| years1 = 1996–1998

| clubs1 = Wrexham

| caps1 = 11

| goals1 = 3

| years2 = 1998–2001

| clubs2 = Sunderland

| caps2 = 2

| goals2 = 0

| years3 = 1999–2000

| clubs3 = → Darlington (loan)

| caps3 = 17

| goals3 = 4

| years4 = 2000–2001

| clubs4 = → Halifax Town (loan)

| caps4 = 13

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 2001–2008

| clubs5 = Darlington

| caps5 = 235

| goals5 = 24

| years6 = 2007

| clubs6 = → Shrewsbury Town (loan)

| caps6 = 3

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2008

| clubs7 = → Mansfield Town (loan)

| caps7 = 5

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2008–2011

| clubs8 = Morecambe

| caps8 = 60

| goals8 = 1

| years9 = 2009

| clubs9 = → Barrow (loan)

| caps9 = 5

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2010

| clubs10 = → Barrow (loan)

| caps10 = 6

| goals10 = 0

| years11 = 2011

| clubs11 = Kendal Town

| caps11 = 3

| goals11 = 1

| years12 = 2012

| clubs12 = Darlington

| caps12 = 12

| goals12 = 0

| years13 = 2012–2013

| clubs13 = Lancaster City

| totalcaps = 383

| totalgoals = 33

| manageryears1 = 2012–2013

| managerclubs1 = Lancaster City

| caps13 = 11

| goals13 = 0

}}

Neil Wainwright (born 4 November 1977) is an English former footballer.

Wainwright played most of his football on the wing or in more recent times at full back. His former clubs include Wrexham, Sunderland and Darlington. He returned to Darlington on short-term contract in February 2012 signing a short-term contract, before the club folded in the summer.

Career

Wainwright began his career as a trainee at Wrexham in July 1996, making 11 league appearances in two season before joining Sunderland for a fee of £100,000 in July 1998.{{cite web | title = Neil Wainwright |work=Soccerbase | publisher = Racing Post | url = https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=9569| access-date = 1 April 2008}} He made only two substitute appearances in the league and 6 in the League Cup for Sunderland before being loaned to Darlington in February 2000 for the rest of the 2000–01 season. He joined Halifax Town on loan in October 2000 for three months and then returned to Darlington on a permanent transfer for a fee of £50,000 in August 2001, where he made over 270 appearances in all competitions and was the club's player of the year in the 2006–07 season, but after making only six first-team appearances for Darlington at the start of the 2007–08 season he joined Shrewsbury Town on a one-month loan in October 2007.{{cite news |title=Shrews sign winger from Quakers |publisher=BBC Sport |date=25 October 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/shrewsbury/7061751.stm |accessdate=30 October 2007}} He later joined Mansfield Town in March 2008 until the end of the 2007–08 season{{cite news |title=Stags bag Horlock and Wainwright |publisher=BBC Sport |date=21 March 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/mansfield_town/7307685.stm|accessdate=2 April 2008}} but was recalled by Darlington a month later having made five appearances for Mansfield.{{cite news |title=Darlington recall for Wainwright |publisher=BBC Sport |date=14 April 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/darlington/7346167.stm|accessdate=14 April 2008}}

Following Darlington's failure to gain promotion from Football League Two in the 2007–08 season, Wainwright was one of several players surprisingly released by the club in May 2008.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/darlington/7412617.stm|title=Nine players released by Quakers |date=22 June 2008|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=22 May 2008}} He joined Morecambe in June 2008 and excelled in a left wing-back role before his season was cut short by an achilles injury. In 2011, Wainwright was released by Morecambe.{{cite news|url=http://www.chestereveningleader.co.uk/wrexhamfc/Wainwright-and-McEvilly-set-for.4206954.jp|title=Wainwright and McEvilly set for new clubs|date=20 June 2008|publisher=Chester Evening Leader|accessdate=23 July 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014005727/http://www.chestereveningleader.co.uk/wrexhamfc/Wainwright-and-McEvilly-set-for.4206954.jp|archivedate=14 October 2008}} Wainwright scored once during his spell at the club; in a 3–1 defeat to Rotherham United.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7551259.stm|title=Morecambe 1–3 Rotherham |publisher=BBC|date=16 August 2008 |accessdate=10 September 2012}}

On 28 February 2012, Wainwright re-signed for former club Darlington,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17234451|title = Darlington sign winger Wainwright|publisher = BBC Sport}} who were in severe financial straits and battling relegation from the Conference National following a 10-point deduction for entering administration in December 2011. He had been playing for Kendal Town prior to his signing for Darlington; making his league debut on 27 September 2011 and scoring in a 3–3 draw with Marine,{{cite web |url=http://www.kendaltown.com/news/2011-09-28-report-kendal-town-vs-marine.cfm |title=Kendal Town FC – Report: Kendal Town Vs Marine |website=kendaltown.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018204254/http://www.kendaltown.com/news/2011-09-28-report-kendal-town-vs-marine.cfm |archive-date=2011-10-18}} Wainwright would go on to play in 2 more league matches, alongside 7 cup appearances, before leaving Kendal in November 2011. Wainwright made his second Darlington debut on 3 March 2012, in a 0–1 home loss to Stockport County; he wore the number 26 shirt and was replaced by Clark Keltie in the 67th minute. He left the club in the summer of 2012 as the club were relegated and folded to reform as Darlington 1883 in the Northern Football League. For the start of the 2012–13 season Wainwright signed as a player for Northern Premier League club Lancaster City taking over as joint manager of the club in October 2012 before leaving in February 2013.

Career statistics

rowspan="2" \|Club ! rowspan="2" \|Season ! colspan="3" \|League ! colspan="2" \| FA Cup ! colspan="2" \| League Cup ! colspan="2" \|Other ! colspan="2" \| Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition{{Cite web\|title=The English National Football Archive\|url=https://www.enfa.co.uk/\|access-date=2022-02-03\|website=enfa.co.uk}}
Division ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals !Apps !Goals ! Apps	Goals
Wrexham \|1997–98{{Cite web \|title=Neil Wainwright {{!}} Player Statistics {{!}} Wrexham (Wrexham AFC Archive) \|url=https://www.wrexhamafcarchive.co.uk/player.php?id=498 \|access-date=2022-07-19 \|website=wrexhamafcarchive.co.uk \|language=en}}	Division Two	11	3	1	0	0	0 \|7{{efn\|Six appearances in FAW Invitation Cup; one appearance in Football League Trophy}} \|0	19	3
rowspan="4" \|Sunderland \|1998–99	Division One	2	0	0	0	3	0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|5	0
1999–2000	Premier League	0	0	0	0	2	0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|2	0
2000–01	Premier League	0	0	colspan="2" \|— \|1	0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|1	0
colspan="2" \|Total !2 !0 !0 !0 !6 !0 ! colspan="2" \|— !8 !0
Darlington (loan) \|1999–2000	Division Three	17	4	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|— \|17	4
Halifax Town (loan) \|2000–01	Division Three	13	0	1	0	colspan="2" \|— \|2{{efn\|name=FLT\|Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy}} \|0	16	0
rowspan="8" \|Darlington \|2001–02	Division Three	35	4	4	2	0	0 \|2{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	41	6
2002–03	Division Three	33	1	3	0	1	0 \|0 \| 0	37	1
2003–04	Division Three	35	7	1	0	0	0 \|0 \| 0	36	7
2004–05	League Two	38	4	2	0	1	0 \|1{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	42	4
2005–06	League Two	39	3	1	0	1	0 \|1{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	42	3
2006–07	League Two	41	5	2	0	2	0 \|3{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	48	5
2007–08	League Two	14	0	colspan="2" \|—	0	0 \|3{{efn\|Two appearances in League Two play-offs; one appearance in Football League Trophy}} \| 0	17	0
colspan="2" \|Total !235 !24 !13 !2 !5 !0 !10 !0 !263 !26
Shrewsbury Town (loan) \|2007–08	League Two	3	0	0	0	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|—	3	0
Mansfield Town (loan) \|2007–08	League Two	5	0	colspan="2" \|—	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|—	5	0
rowspan="4" \|Morecambe \|2008–09	League Two	38	1	1	0	1	0 \|3{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	43	1
2009–10	League Two	17	0	1	0	1	0 \|1{{efn\|name=FLT}} \| 0	20	0
2010–11	League Two	5	0	1	0	0	0 \|0 \| 0	6	0
colspan="2" \|Total !60 !1 !3 !0 !2 !0 !4 !0 !69 !1
rowspan="3" \|Barrow (loan) \|2009–10{{Cite web\|title=Neil Wainwright {{!}} Football Stats {{!}} Darlington {{!}} Season 2009/2010 {{!}} Soccer Base\|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=9569&season_id=139\|access-date=2022-02-03\|website=soccerbase.com}}	Conference National	5	0	0	0	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|—	5	0
2010–11{{Cite web\|title=Neil Wainwright {{!}} Football Stats {{!}} Darlington {{!}} Season 2010/2011 {{!}} Soccer Base\|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=9569&season_id=140\|access-date=2022-02-03\|website=soccerbase.com}}	Conference National	6	0	0	0	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|—	6	0
colspan="2" \|Total !11 !0 !0 !0 ! colspan="2" \|— ! colspan="2" \|— !11 !0
Kendal Town \|2011–12{{Citation needed\|date=February 2022}}	Northern Premier League Premier Division	3	1	2	0	colspan="2" \|— \|6{{efn\|Three appearances in FA Trophy; three appearances in Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy}} \| 0	11	1
Darlington \|2011–12{{Cite web\|title=Neil Wainwright {{!}} Football Stats {{!}} Darlington {{!}} Season 2011/2012 {{!}} Soccer Base\|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=9569&season_id=141\|access-date=2022-02-03\|website=soccerbase.com}}	Conference National	12	0	colspan="2" \|—	colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|—	12	0
Lancaster City \|2012–13{{Cite journal\|date=20 April 2013\|title=City Statistics 2012–2013\|journal=Blue Review: Lancaster City Official 2012–13 Matchday Programme\|volume=vs Goole AFC}} \|Northern Premier League Division One North \|11 \|0 \|3 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|3{{efn\|One appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Northern Premier League Challenge Cup; one appearance in Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy}} \|0 \|17 \|0
colspan="3" \|Career total !383\|\|33\|\|23\|\|2\|\|13\|\|0 !32 ! 0\|\|451\|\|35