Neil Webb

Reading

Webb joined Reading on leaving Little Heath School in 1979 and made his first-team debut in February 1980 at the age of 16. He became the youngest ever scorer for the Berkshire side when he found the net in a Third Division match at the beginning of the 1980-81 season.

Portsmouth

In July 1982 Webb transferred to Portsmouth for £87,500. At Fratton Park he was a regular first-team player and helped them win promotion to the Second Division (as Third Division champions) in his first season, and in his third season they came close to reaching the First Division. He scored a total of 34 league goals in three seasons at Fratton Park.

Nottingham Forest

In June 1985, Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough paid Portsmouth £250,000 for Webb, which took him into the First Division for the first time. At Forest he developed into a leading midfielder with a strong goalscoring record. During his time at the City Ground, he won the League Cup in 1989 (scoring in the final against Luton) and became a regular member of the England national team from 1987. Webb was one of the Forest players who had to cope with the horrors of the Hillsborough disaster during the opening minutes of their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool in April 1989. His goalscoring record at Forest exceeded that of many strikers at the time. He managed 14 league goals in both of his first two seasons at the club, in 1986–87 from just 32 games. This included a hat-trick against Chelsea…

Football League XI

After excelling in his first two seasons of top flight football with Nottingham Forest, Webb earned recognition from England manager Bobby Robson, who selected him in the Football League XI for an exhibition match against a Rest of the World XI, on 8 August 1987. The match was in recognition of the League's centenary. Webb started the game, and was replaced by Osvaldo Ardiles. Webb was praised by The Glasgow Herald, who stated "the performance of Webb was outstanding", adding that he "frequently showed a sweet combination of close control and confidence" and predicting full England honours in the offing.

England

Robson gave Webb his full international début, against West Germany on 9 September 1987 at the age of 24, becoming the 1,000th player to be capped by England. His first goal came against Turkey on 14 October that year, in an 8–0 victory at Wembley in a Euro 88 qualifier. He appeared in two of England's group games at Euro 88 (which all ended in defeat), but his next international appearance – against Denmark in a friendly on 14 September 1988 – he scored the only goal in the game at Wembley. On 3 June 1989, he scored the third international goal of his career with a 3–0 World Cup qualifier victory over Poland, again at Wembley. On 24 April 1990 Webb made his first appearance with the England B team, playing in the 2–0 win over the Czechoslovakia B team at Roker Park. Despite missing the bulk of the 1989–90 season at Manchester…

After having to give up playing football, from June to December 1997 Webb was player-coach of Southern League Southern Division side Weymouth, but quit after just 70 days. His next spell in management with non-league Reading Town in 2001 was also short-lived.

Nottingham Forest

Football League Cup: 1988–89 Manchester United

FA Cup: 1989–90 Football League Cup: 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1990–91 European Super Cup: 1991 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1982–83 Third Division, 1984–85 Second Division