Neil Smillie (born 19 July 1958) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played for a number of clubs, and appeared in the 1983 FA Cup final for Brighton & Hove Albion.
In 1985, Smillie moved to Watford for a fee of £100,000 but his spell at Vicarage Road was unsuccessful, with only 16 first-team appearances. In 1986, he moved on to Reading. Two years later, he moved again to Brentford, where he was a first-team regular for five years with over 170 appearances.[11]
Managerial career
In 1993, the new Gillingham manager Mike Flanagan made Smillie his first signing, appointing him as player-coach.[11] Gillingham went into administration in 1995 and the receivers dismissed Flanagan as manager, appointing Smillie as manager for the remainder of the season.[10]
When new owners took over Gillingham in summer 1995, Smillie moved to Wycombe Wanderers, where he served as youth team coach.[11] He had a brief spell as caretaker manager in 1996 and, in 1998, gained the job on a permanent basis.[11] He was sacked the following year.[10]
Personal life
As of July 2010, Smillie was working as Sports Marketing Manager for Nike UK and headed the company's talent ID scheme.[11]
References
^"Neil Smillie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
^Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 306. ISBN978-0-356-14354-5.