Gary O'Neil
Personal information
Full name	Gary Paul O'Neil
Date of birth	18 May 1983 (1983-05-18) (age 26)
Place of birth	Bromley, England
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Right winger
Club information
Current club	Middlesbrough
Number	16
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2007 2003 2004 2007–	Portsmouth → Walsall (loan) → Cardiff City (loan) Middlesbrough	174 (16) 007 0(0) 009 0(1) 066 0(6)
National team2
2003–2004	England U21	009 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:56, 24 October 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 00:57, 29 September 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Gary Paul O'Neil (born 18 May 1983 in Bromley, England) is an English footballer, currently playing for Middlesbrough in the Coca-Cola Championship. He normally plays as a right winger.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Portsmouth 1.2 Middlesbrough 1.3 International 2 Career statistics 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Portsmouth

Tony Pulis gave O'Neil his Portsmouth debut as a 16 year old on 29 January 2000 at home to Barnsley in the First Division, but kept him out of the spotlight for the rest of the season. The following year both Pulis and his successor Steve Claridge used O'Neil sparingly but Portsmouth's third manager of a disastrous season, Graham Rix, made O'Neil a starter for final 5 matches of the season. Portsmouth went into the final game needing to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation to what was then the Second Division. They won the match 3–0 and survived, with O'Neil scoring the third goal, his first in professional football.

In the 2001–02 season, still a teenager, O'Neil became a key player in a young team. Despite another disappointing campaign for the club, O'Neil's own reputation continued to increase and he scored a volley against Millwall.

When Harry Redknapp took over as manager at the end of the 2001–02 season, O'Neil was one of the few players not to be moved on in the rebuilding of the squad. In Redknapp's first full season O'Neil only started 11 league matches, scoring 3 goals.

The 2002–03 campaign may have been disappointing personally for O'Neil but it was a great one for the club as they convincingly won the First Division title, thereby gaining promotion to the Premier League. He was loaned to Walsall at the beginning of the 2003–04 season in order to gain first team experience. His impressive performances for the Midlands side and Portsmouth's increasing injury problems led to a recall in November 2003. He went straight into the starting eleven for his Premier League debut against bottom of the table Leeds United at Fratton Park and scored two goals in a 6–1 win. This performance meant that he maintained his place for the next match, away at Fulham but then had to travel to Dubai to captain England Under 20s in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Upon his return, O'Neil found that Portsmouth's injury problems had cleared up and he could not break back into the team for the remainder of the season.

At the beginning of the 2004–05 season he was loaned to Cardiff City to gain further first team experience, scoring once in the league against Millwall.^[1] After excelling in the Welsh capital he was recalled to Portsmouth in November who yet again were experiencing an injury crisis. He made his return to the side in one of the biggest matches of the season, a 2–1 defeat at Southampton. He was picked again for the next match, at home to Manchester City, and scored in a 3–1 loss. This match proved to be a turning point in both the history of Portsmouth and the career of O'Neil as it proved to be the last match of Redknapp's reign. Technical director Velimir Zajec took over a temporary manager and made O'Neil a regular in the Pompey midfield. During Zajec's 5 month reign Portsmouth fell from midtable to relegation candidates and Alain Perrin was appointed to keep the club in the Premier League. O'Neil remained a crucial part of the Frenchman's plans and was one of the main reasons why Portsmouth were not relegated back to the First Division after only two seasons. His outstanding performances at right midfield and centre midfield and his stunning goal away at Manchester United were enough to convince European champions Liverpool to bid £5million for him, a bid which was rejected by Portsmouth.^[2]

O'Neil went into the 2005–06 season as a regular for Perrin's new-look team and, like in the 2002–03 campaign, he was one of the few players to survive from the previous year. Despite being seen by most of the Portsmouth fans as the best central midfielder at the club, he was mainly utilised on the right. By November Portsmouth were in severve trouble at the bottom of the Premier League and Perrin was sacked only 7 months after being appointed. The shock return of Redknapp was seen by some to signal the end of O'Neil's Portsmouth career. Many people believed that Redknapp did not rate O'Neil and this view seemed to be confirmed in 2004 during the feud between Redknapp and the chairman Mandaric when the latter claimed he has vetoed an attempt to sell Gary to Cardiff. In Redknapp's first match back in charge at Tottenham Hotspur, O'Neil retained his place in the team and was picked on the right of midfield. O'Neil's late handball conceded the penalty for Spurs' winner. O'Neil was moved into his preferred position of central midfield a few games later and Pompey went on their best run of the season with O'Neil scoring in successive home games. For the home game with Everton in January 2006 O'Neil captained Pompey for the first time but disappointingly for him this was also the game where he was moved back to the right to allow new signings Pedro Mendes and Sean Davis to form a partnership in the middle. Pompey lost the game 1-0 and went on a horrendous run of form that left them near certainties for relegation in mid-March but O'Neil's inspirational performance in a crucial 1-1 draw against Bolton Wanderers saw him keep his place in the starting XI. Two weeks after this draw, Pedro Mendes' last minute winner against Manchester City sparked a magnificent comeback. Pompey gained 14 points out of the next seven games and secured survival at Wigan Athletic's JJB Stadium on 29 April with a 2-1 victory.

Gary was a regular at the right of midfield for Portsmouth in the 2006–07 and despite only contributing one goal Portsmouth finished 9th, their best in the Premier League at that time.

[edit] Middlesbrough

O'Neil signed for Middlesbrough on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £5 million.^[3]

O'Neil, whilst not scoring for Middlesbrough during his first season, was considered a success. His lively displays down the right-hand side of midfield, and occasionally in the centre, have earned him plaudits from the Boro fans and manager, Gareth Southgate. "I think he's done a fantastic job on the right hand side this year, I think there's more to come from him".

In all he made 26 appearances in the league, and 3 in the FA Cup during the clubs run to the quarter-final.

Reports surfacing towards the end of April 2008 suggest that O'Neil would look to maybe move on from Middlesbrough after he and his family had failed to settle on Teesside. Whilst these reports have not been confirmed or denied by O'Neil himself, Gareth Southgate said, "I think certainly there has been a little problem with him settling off the field but whether that problem is still there or it's something that we can deal with we'll have to see over the next couple of months.

"He certainly won't walk out the door without a fight from our end."

O'Neil scored his first goal on 29 October in the 94th minute of Middlesbrough's 2–0 win over Manchester City and his second goal on the 16 November in the 8th minute in a 1–1 draw away to Everton.

O'Neil started the 2009/10 season as Southgates first choice central midfielder, with Julio Arca being dropped to the bench for the first matches of the season. It was soon revealed that O'Neil would require a hernia operation , yet he spoke out and said he would, "Delay the operation so as to ease Boro's midfield crisis." The first game after his operation, on the 12th September, led to his first goal. He was taken down in the box yet managed to pull himself up to loop Marvin Emnes' return ball over the Ipswich Town keeper. The game ended 3-1 in Middlesbrough's favour. Just days after this, 15th September, he was taken down with a head injury bleeding against Sheffield Wednesday and required stitches, so was taken of the pitch for treatment and returned minutes later. The game ended 3-1, with O'neil playing an important part in Boro's midfield dominance.

[edit] International

O'Neil has earned caps for England at every youth level, and he has captained the Under-21 side, having held that position at each youth level. Despite this, he is still yet to be awarded his first senior cap for England. He is one of many English based players eligible for the Republic of Ireland national team.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career statistics

^[4]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
1999-00	Portsmouth	First Division	1	0	-		-		1	0
2000-01			10	1	-		2	0	12	1
2001-02			33	1	1	0	1	0	35	1
2002-03			31	3	1	0	1	0	33	3
2003-04		Premier League	3	2	-		2	0	5	2
2003-04	Walsall	First Division	7	0	-		-		7	0
2004-05	Portsmouth	Premier League	24	2	2	0	2	0	28	2
2004-05	Cardiff City	Championship	9	1	-		-		9	1
2005-06	Portsmouth	Premier League	36	6	2	0	1	1	39	7
2006-07			35	1	2	0	-		37	1
2007-08			2	0	-		1	0	3	0
2007-08	Middlesbrough	Premier League	38	2	3	0	-		29	0
2008-09
Total	England		229	19	11	0	10	1	238	18
Career Total			229	19	11	0	10	1	238	18

[edit] Personal life

O'Neil is married to Donna Guerin who he married in 2006. In May 2007, Gary O'Neil became a father to a baby girl.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gary O'Neil Official Website at officialplayerwebsites.com
• BBC profile
• Gary O'Neil career stats at Soccerbase

Awards
Preceded by Dejan Stefanović	Portsmouth F.C. Fans' Player of the Year 2006	Succeeded by David James

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