Dwight McNeil

Dwight James Matthew McNeil (born 22 November 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Burnley.

Club Career

Early life

McNeil was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester to parents Tracy and Matty McNeil, who was a professional footballer in the English Football League for Macclesfield Town and Stockport County. He has two younger siblings, Baillie and Chiara, and he attended the Oasis Academy in Oldham. He regularly watched his father play in non-league for Hyde United and first started playing football at the JJB Sports centre in Trafford. It was there that scouts from Bolton Wanderers pursued him for a trial, but after initial rejections from his parents, Bolton eventually got their way and he started training with them. At age five, he was offered the chance to join the academy at Manchester United, the club he supported as a child. He stayed in the United academy until the age of 14 when he started struggling for game time and was subsequently released.

Burnley

Within a week of his release, McNeil went on trial at the Burnley Academy. In July 2016, he was rewarded with a two-year scholarship and was a regular member of the under-18 squad and occasionally played for the Development Squad. In February 2018, he travelled with the first team squad for the Premier League game against Swansea City but failed to make the match-day squad. On 10 April 2018, following the end of his scholarship, he signed a professional two-year contract with the option of a third year in the club's favour. On 13 May 2018, he made his first team debut in the final match of the 2017–18 season when he replaced Aaron Lennon as a late substitute in the 2–1 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth. McNeil scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 home win against West Ham United on 30 December 2018.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Дуайт Макнил (russian)