Gordon Neilson (footballer)

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.

Gordon Neilson
Personal information
Full name Gordon Neilson[1]
Date of birth (1947-05-28) 28 May 1947
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Glasgow United
1964–1966 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1968 Arsenal 14 (2)
1968–1972 Brentford 92 (15)
1972–1973 Hillingdon Borough 31 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Arsenal

A right winger, Neilson joined First Division club Arsenal from amateur club Glasgow United in April 1964.[2][1] 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.[2] 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.[3] He made just one further appearance during the 1965–66 season, in a 1–0 victory over Leicester City on the final day.[3]

Neilson had to wait until 19 November 1966 to make his next appearance, which came in a 1–0 victory over Fulham.[3] He scored his first goal for the club in the following game, a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.[3] 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.[3] Neilson's run in the team came to an end in late February 1967 and failed to make any further appearances.[3] He departed Highbury in October 1968, having made 17 appearances and scored three goals for the Gunners.[2]

Brentford

Neilson signed for Fourth Division club Brentford for a £10,000 fee in October 1968.[4] In a time of financial uncertainty for the Griffin Park club, Neilson's £10,000 fee represented a major gamble.[1] 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.[5] 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.[5] Neilson was released after the season and made 104 appearances and scored 15 goals during his time with the Bees.[1]

Hillingdon Borough

Neilson ended his career with a spell at Southern League Premier Division club Hillingdon Borough during the 1972–73 season.[1]

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.[6]

Honours

Brentford

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Arsenal 1965–66[3] First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1966–67[3] 12 2 3 1 0 0 15 3
Total 14 2 3 1 0 0 17 3
Brentford 1968–69[5] Fourth Division 27 6 2 0 — 29 6
1969–70[5] 34 3 2 0 3 0 39 3
1970–71[5] 19 4 3 0 1 0 23 4
1971–72[5] 12 2 0 0 1 0 13 2
Total 92 15 7 0 5 0 104 15
Career total 10617101 5 012118

References
  1. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 114. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. "Gordon Neilson". arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  3. "Gordon Neilson". 11v11.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  4. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 978-1906796709.
  5. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 389–391. ISBN 0951526200.
  6. "Where Are They Now? Brentford Division Four promotion-winners 1971–72". The League Paper. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
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