In the third season of hosting guest speakers by the Society, our founding president, Peter West excelled himself in capturing Messrs; D’Oliveira, Wooller, and “Bomber” Wells, followed by a superb evening with Phil Neale. One can easily imagine that Basil would have had a word with Peter West at some point, with a recommendation for Phil Neale, knowing the man, and the impact that he had been making at New Road. Phil was proving to be a very successful leader of Worcestershire, in due course nailing six trophies for the county, so on the crest of a wave of success when he came to Cheltenham.
Born in Lincolnshire in 1954, Phil had proven his pedigree as an all round sportsman, playing football for Scunthorpe (with Botham! ), Worcester City, Gloucester City and Lincoln City, making over 300 appearances for the latter. While doing so he undertook a degree in Russian, demonstrating academic talent too. Incidentally, the home county may not have boasted front-line status, but even in those days ran more than 200 cricket clubs.
In his first full season for Worcestershire Phil scored more than 900 runs, and was a fixture in the side for the next 15 seasons, taking on the captaincy in 1982, enjoying successes in Sunday League and County Championship in the years to follow. He retired in 1992,having notably become the last man to play football and cricket professionally in the same era. As a batsman he accumulated over 17,000 runs in his long career. His successes and experience led to him becoming a coach and manager at Northants and Warwickshire, before taking on the role of Operations Manager for England in 1999, serving in post for 21 years, covering over 200 tests, with coaching also part of his remit.
After such an illustrious career, it was fitting that the club legend and former captain would be invited to take over the Presidency of Worcestershire CCC in March 2024.
So, while few now will recall the pleasure of meeting Phil in 1987, he will be very welcome as a returning guest to the Society, with so much more to add to the content of yesteryear.
Paddy Murphy – June 2024