Keith Neale

Career

Neale was born in the Yardley district of Birmingham. He played in the Birmingham Works League for the Metropolitan works team before joining Birmingham City, initially as an amateur, in August 1953. He remained in the junior teams for some time before making his debut in the League Division on 10 April 1957, deputising for Gordon Astall at outside right in the local derby at home to Aston Villa, a game which Birmingham lost 2–1. He played once more that season and three times in 1957–58, standing in variously for Eddy Brown and Noel Kinsey, but the strength of Birmingham's forward line in the mid-1950s was such that Neale was only ever considered as a reserve. He spent the next season with Kettering Town of the Southern League, scoring 18 goals from 32 games, and also played for Boston United and Gainsborough Trinity.