Neil Redfearn

Born in Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire, Redfearn began his career at Bolton Wanderers on 23 June 1982, having previously been on the books of Nottingham Forest's youth team. He later made his name as goalscoring midfielder at lower-division sides Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers. In May 1985, 56 spectators were killed in a stadium fire while he was playing for Lincoln against Bradford City. In 1987, he was signed by Crystal Palace for £100,000, and he later played for Watford, before moving again in 1989 to Oldham Athletic. Redfearn's last season with Oldham constituted a career highlight as he was an ever-present in the team that won the Second Division title and returned the Latics to the top-flight of English football after a gap of 68 years. Redfearn converted the injury time penalty kick in the final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday that completed a 3–2 victory (after Oldham had trailed 2–0), and snatched the championship from West Ham United, who had prematurely been handed the trophy some 15 minutes earlier. Despite his contribution to Oldham's promotion, he became surplus to requirements with the re-signing of former club captain Mike Milligan from Everton in the off-season and Redfearn was transferred without playing for Oldham in the top flight. In September 1991, Redfearn joined Barnsley, and it was at this club he arguably spent his prime years. In his seven seasons at Oakwell, he rarely missed a single game, and was named club captain and…

At Halifax, he also got his first taste of management, being appointed caretaker manager alongside Tony Parks following the resignation of Paul Bracewell on 30 August 2001. His spell as caretaker manager came to an end on 12 October following the appointment of Alan Little. Redfearn started a second spell in caretaker charge on 4 March 2002 due to the enforced absence of Little. However, his contract with the club was terminated on 25 April and having been snubbed for the permanent manager's job he joined Boston United as player-coach. Redfearn spent the better part of two years at Boston, before finishing his Football League career at Rochdale in the spring of 2004. Rochdale did not offer him a new contract at the end of the season, meaning he finished his Football League career with 790 appearances and so being fifth in the all-time list of most Football League appearances. His last league appearance for Rochdale took his total to . after which Redfearn dropped down to the Conference, where he became player-coach at Scarborough, managed at the time by his former Oldham teammate Nick Henry. He signed a new contract with Scarborough in April 2005. When Henry was dismissed on 24 October 2005 Redfearn was named caretaker manager, before being appointed permanently on 1 November while remaining registered as a player. Redfearn resigned on 6 July 2006 after Mark Patterson was brought in as assistant manager. He subsequently signed with Northern Premier League First Division side…

Leeds United

Redfearn left York over a month later after being appointed coach of the under-18 academy team at Leeds United on 30 December 2008 and he assumed this role on 1 January 2009. He took over as manager of the Leeds reserve team in December 2010 following the dismissal of Neil Thompson. He was appointed caretaker manager at Leeds following the dismissal of manager Simon Grayson on 1 February 2012. Three days later he won his first match in charge by beating Bristol City 3–0. It was later confirmed by club chairman Ken Bates that Redfearn would retain the managerial post for the following three games. After two wins and two defeats in his four-game spell as manager, Redfearn was replaced as manager by Neil Warnock as permanent manager on 18 February 2012. In April 2012, Redfearn guided Leeds' Under 18's side to a second-place finish in the Under-18s League, narrowly missing out on top spot to Newcastle's Under-18s team. Following the departure of Neil Warnock on 1 April 2013, Redfearn again took charge of the first team for the game at for the 2–1 away defeat against Charlton Athletic on 6 April. Redfearn's spell as the Head of academy was praised due to the influx of Leeds academy players breaking through into the first team such as Dominic Poleon, Chris Dawson, Sam Byram, Alex Mowatt, Lewis Cook and Kalvin Phillips. On 28 August 2014, Redfearn was appointed caretaker head coach after head coach Dave Hockaday and his assistant Junior Lewis were dismissed by…

Redfearn's father, Brian, is a former professional footballer. He is a lifelong Leeds fan. Redfearn married Susan Roberts in 1985. He is currently in a relationship with Lucy Ward, a former footballer and current football broadcaster and pundit.