2002-2003 Neil McNab
Birth Date
4th June 1957
Birthplace
Greenock, Renfrewshire
Occupation
Manager
Biographical Text
Neil McNab was manager of Exeter City between October 2002 and February 2003 during the season when the Grecians were relegated from the Football League. A notable player with Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City, it was his only excursion into football management.
Growing up in Greenock, he played for the local club Morton before joining Tottenham Hotspur as a sixteen-year-old in 1974. Making an immediate impression he played for Scotland under-21s but, falling a little short of his early promise, moved on to Bolton Wanderers and Brighton. Signing for Manchester City in 1983, he became a hugely-popular player at Maine Road over the following seven seasons during an uncertain period in the club's history. He then enjoyed a good spell with Tranmere Rovers before shorter associations with Huddersfield Town, Ayr United, Darlington and Derry City.
Retiring from playing, he returned to Manchester City as a youth coach and later performed a similar role with Portsmouth ahead of receiving a call from John Russell in October to manage Exeter City. At the age of forty-five, and with no previous managerial experience, he found himself in charge of a team that had already had two managers that season - John Cornforth and Eamonn Dolan (caretaker) - and had started the season badly. With suspicions starting to mount about the governance of the club, and with the added spectre of two teams about to be relegated from the Football League for the first time, there was no improvement in the Grecians' fortunes and Mr McNab was relieved of his responsibilities in February 2003. Replaced by Gary Peters, there was a slight upturn on the field but City were still relegated from the Football League as matters started to unravel behind the scenes.
Growing up in Greenock, he played for the local club Morton before joining Tottenham Hotspur as a sixteen-year-old in 1974. Making an immediate impression he played for Scotland under-21s but, falling a little short of his early promise, moved on to Bolton Wanderers and Brighton. Signing for Manchester City in 1983, he became a hugely-popular player at Maine Road over the following seven seasons during an uncertain period in the club's history. He then enjoyed a good spell with Tranmere Rovers before shorter associations with Huddersfield Town, Ayr United, Darlington and Derry City.
Retiring from playing, he returned to Manchester City as a youth coach and later performed a similar role with Portsmouth ahead of receiving a call from John Russell in October to manage Exeter City. At the age of forty-five, and with no previous managerial experience, he found himself in charge of a team that had already had two managers that season - John Cornforth and Eamonn Dolan (caretaker) - and had started the season badly. With suspicions starting to mount about the governance of the club, and with the added spectre of two teams about to be relegated from the Football League for the first time, there was no improvement in the Grecians' fortunes and Mr McNab was relieved of his responsibilities in February 2003. Replaced by Gary Peters, there was a slight upturn on the field but City were still relegated from the Football League as matters started to unravel behind the scenes.
Moving to the United States in 2008, Neil coached youth soccer for many years before suffering a serious stroke in 2018.
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