Lucas Neill

Millwall

Neill joined Millwall on a free transfer in November 1995, making his debut on 17 February against Luton Town in 1996. In almost six years at The Den, he made 174 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals. In September 2001, Neill, by then the longest serving player at the club, submitted a transfer request and shortly after, signed for Blackburn Rovers for an initial fee of £600,000 plus up to £400,000 more depending on appearances.

Blackburn Rovers

Neill played his first game for Blackburn in September 2001 against Sunderland and scored his first Blackburn goal later that month against Bolton Wanderers. Neill was well regarded by Blackburn Rovers supporters and held the right back position for over five years for the Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn won the 2001–02 Football League Cup but Neill was cup-tied. Neill's combative and committed style of play in the Premier League attracted criticism in 2003–04 at a time when Blackburn had been criticised routinely for their aggressive play. He broke the leg of Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher when his trailing leg caught that of the Liverpool player in the fifth game of the 2003–04 season in a tackle at Ewood Park. Carragher, a popular home-grown Liverpool player, was sidelined for six months and the incident sparked a war of words between Gérard Houllier and Graeme Souness after Neill and his manager did not apologise for 48 hours. Johan Neeskens, who became assistant to Barcelona manager Frank…

In October 1996, Neill became the third-youngest player, after Duncan Cummings and Harry Kewell, to debut for the Australian national team when he played in a friendly game against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, aged 18 years and 7 months. He also competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney with the Australian men's team, the Olyroos. On 16 November 2005 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, Neill helped Australia qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup playing the entire game and scoring the Socceroos' second penalty in a shoot-out against Uruguay, after aggregate scores were tied at 1–1 following extra-time. He was named Man of the Match for this game. Neill started all four of Australia's games at the 2006 World Cup. In the closing minutes of Australia's Round of 16 game against Italy, he was involved in a controversial incident, as referee Luis Medina Cantalejo adjudged Neill to have fouled Italian full back Fabio Grosso in the penalty area. Francesco Totti converted the ensuing penalty kick to score and give the Italians a 1–0 victory, knocking Australia out of the cup. Following the World Cup, on 6 October 2006 was named as the 50th player to captain Australia. On 7 October 2006 he made his debut as the Socceroos' captain in a 1–1 friendly against Paraguay, in Brisbane. Four days later, in Sydney, he captained Australia again in an Asian Cup qualifying game against Bahrain, which Australia won 2–0. On 2 June 2007, Neill captained the Socceroos again in a friendly match against Uruguay at…

Neill's father moved to Australia from Northern Ireland, where he had played for local football clubs Brantwood F.C., Linfield F.C., and Cliftonville F.C. Neill grew up in Manly, Sydney and was a student at Wakehurst Public School in Belrose and St Augustine's College in Brookvale, before attending the Australian Institute of Sport on a football scholarship in 1994–95.

Neill's son, Marcus, currently plays at the Sunderland Academy, having previously played at the Liverpool Academy and Blackburn Rovers Academy. On 2 May 2016, Neill was declared bankrupt in the United Kingdom. On 20 November 2023, at Preston Crown Court, Neill was found not guilty of purposefully hiding money from his bankruptcy proceedings. After the verdict, he spoke to The Times and said he was living in a rented house and his children had to move schools as he could no longer afford the school fees – Neill also said how at the height of his financial struggles, the electricity was cut off in his house. He told the newspaper that he was now coaching football at a local women's team and was also working as a project manager for a local digital firm.