Neale Fenn
Neale Michael Charles Fenn (born 18 January 1977) is a former professional footballer who is also the former manager of League of Ireland clubs Longford Town and Cork City.
| Neale Fenn at Leyton Orient | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neale Michael Charles Fenn | ||
| Date of birth | 18 January 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Edmonton, London, England | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–2001 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Norwich City (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 1998 | → Swindon Town (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Lincoln City (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2001–2003 | Peterborough United | 50 | (14) |
| 2003 | Waterford United | 19 | (4) |
| 2004–2006 | Cork City | 84 | (27) |
| 2007–2009 | Bohemians | 69 | (5) |
| 2010 | Dundalk | 22 | (4) |
| 2010 | Shamrock Rovers | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 281 | (55) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997–1999 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 8 | (3) |
| 1999 | Republic of Ireland B | 1 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017 | Leyton Orient (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2019 | Longford Town | ||
| 2019–2020 | Cork City | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Early career
Fenn played for Tottenham Hotspur, making his professional debut in January 1997 in a third round FA Cup tie at Manchester United alongside Rory Allen, which Spurs lost 2–0. He made his league debut, as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in April 1997.
He made only 10 appearances for Spurs, scoring once, in a League Cup tie against Carlisle in September 1997.[1]
Fenn went on loan to several clubs including Norwich City in the First Division. At Norwich he scored once; his goal coming in a 5–0 win against Swindon Town.[2]
League of Ireland career
Fenn signed for Waterford United in August 2003 and made his League of Ireland debut as a substitute for Daryl Murphy in a home game against Derry City.[3]
His form and skill saw him transferring to Cork City for the 2004 season. He made a scoring debut on the opening day of the season.[4] His three seasons at Turners Cross included his first League of Ireland Championship win in 2005.[citation needed]
Fenn scored two European goals for Cork. He netted at FC Nantes in the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[5] He also scored what proved to be the all-important away goal in City's 2005-06 UEFA Cup win against Swedish side Djurgården.[6]
Fenn was signed for Bohemians after his contract with Cork City expired in November 2006, becoming the first signing of new Bohs manager Sean Connor. After failing to score a league goal in his first season at Dalymount Park, Fenn was revitalised under the management of Pat Fenlon and played a role in Bohs' 2008 league championship win. He scored against Rhyl in the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[7] He added another league winners medal to his collection in 2009 but was released by Bohs when his contract expired at the end of the season.
In January 2010, Fenn moved to Dundalk[8]
He netted again in the Europa League.[9]
On 29 July 2010, he announced his retirement from football with immediate effect due to personal reasons.[10] Fenn insisted he would not be making a return to football. "I think once you finish you might as well finish rather than making all sorts of comebacks. At the moment, I can't see myself coming back at all." However, only four days later on 3 August, he signed for Shamrock Rovers until the end of the 2010 season.[11] He explained his reasons for joining the Hoops.[12]
International career
Neale has been capped for the Republic of Ireland at U15, U16, U18, U20, U21 and 'B' levels.
Fenn was part of Brian Kerr's 1997 under-20 squad which won bronze in the FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia in 1997.[13]
In September 1997 Fenn was sent off for flooring an Icelandic opponent who laughed at his penalty miss in an under-21 international.[14]
The same year he was called up to senior squad twice.[15][16]
Management and coaching
On 7 April 2017, Fenn was announced as Leyton Orient assistant manager until the end of the season.[17]
In June 2017, Longford Town announced Fenn as their new manager,[18] and by August 2019 he had joined League of Ireland Premier Division club Cork City as head coach.[19]
In October 2020 Fenn stepped down as Cork City manager with the club bottom of the table with four games left in the season.[20]
References
- ^ . Sporting Life. Hestview. 17 September 1997. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ "Neale Fenn". Flown from the Nest. Steve Whitlam. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ Soccer Scoreboard Independent.ie, 19 July 2004
- ^ "Djurgardens IF vs. Cork - Football Match Summary". ESPNFC.com. ESPN Sports Media. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2017.[dead link]
- ^ "Bohemians run riot against Rhyl". BBC Sport. 21 June 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ . Dundalk FC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ . RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ Fenn retires from football 4 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine Dundalk FC
- ^ . Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- ^ . Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland. 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ . FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ . Leyton Orient FC. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ "Neale Fenn announced as Longford Town FC manager". Longford Town FC. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ "Cork City confirm Neale Fenn as new head coach". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ^ "Cork City manager Neale Fenn has left the club". Irish Examiner. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
External links
- Neale Fenn Biography UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database
- Neal Fenn career information Flown from the Nest