Neil Danns

Neil Alexander Danns (born 23 November 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He is currently assistant manager at Tranmere Rovers.

He began his career in 2000 as a trainee at Blackburn Rovers and subsequently played for Colchester United, Birmingham City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and Bury.

He converted his penalty in the shootout by which Blackburn's youth team beat Liverpool's to reach the 2000–01 FA Youth Cup Final, and captained the team in the final, scoring as Blackburn beat Arsenal 3–1 in the second leg having lost the first leg 5–0.

Manager Graeme Souness gave Danns a "surprise" debut on 19 September 2002 in the starting eleven for the 1–1 draw with CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Cup; according to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, he "didn't let anyone down with a lively performance".

He made his first Premier League appearance three days later as a late substitute in a 1–0 win over Leeds United, and went on to make six appearances in all competitions in the 2002–03 season.

Ahead of the 2003–04 season, it was expected that Danns would be loaned out to gain first-team experience, and on 4 August, he joined Second Division club Blackpool for an initial one-month loan period, later extended to three months.

He started the opening match of the Second Division season, a 5–0 defeat away to Queens Park Rangers.

and was sent off in the next, receiving a second yellow card for timewasting near the end of a 3–2 win over Wycombe Wanderers.

His first goal for the club, "[hitting] the roof of the net with a screamer from 40 yards", began Blackpool's comeback from 2–0 down to win 3–2 at Oldham Athletic, He was sent off for a second time, again for two yellow cards, against Stockport County on 20 September, and scored his second Blackpool goal in his next league match, "rounding the keeper and striking a sweet left-foot shot into the far corner and between the two defenders on the line" to complete a 2–1 win over Notts County.

Despite manager Steve McMahon and the players wanting him and fellow Blackburn loanee Jonathan Douglas to stay, both left Blackpool after their three months.

Danns "ran his heart out" for the 16 minutes of what proved to be his final appearance for Blackburn Rovers in a 4–3 loss against Bolton Wanderers on 10 January 2004.

In March, he joined another Second Division club, Hartlepool United, on a one-month loan, later extended to the end of the season, and as he had with Blackpool, he made his debut in a heavy defeat to Queens Park Rangers.

He established himself as a regular in the side, scored the winning goal away to Wrexham in April, and helped Hartlepool reach the play-offs.

Danns played in both legs of the semi-final, in which they lost 3–2 on aggregate to Bristol City, having been 2–1 ahead with three minutes plus stoppage time to go.

In September 2004, Danns joined League One club Colchester United on loan as injury cover.

He started the next match, a 3–1 league win over AFC Bournemouth on 11 September, and scored both goals in a 2–1 defeat of Port Vale on 4 October.

The loan was extended for a second month, and Danns was a regular in the first team throughout his 13-match stay, during which he scored four times.

In December, disappointed at a perceived lack of opportunity at his parent club, Danns rejoined Colchester for a nominal fee, later reported as £15,000; his 18-month contract included a 30% sell-on clause.

He resumed his place in the team and his goalscoring: his eight goals in this spell included both goals in a 2–1 win away to Stockport County in March 2005, and all 36 of his appearances for the season were in the starting eleven.

During a match at Tranmere Rovers in February 2005, the hosts' match video commentator referred to Danns using racially offensive terminology; the commentator was sacked.

Danns scored against Gillingham in the opening fixture of the 2005–06 season, but his team lost 2–1.

He missed most of September with an abdominal injury, and took time to return to full fitness, but a run of goals in January, including two against Derby County to take his side through to the FA Cup fifth round, sparked interest from higher-level teams.

However, Danns claimed that the progress Colchester were making allowed him to develop without needing to leave – 13 years later, he expressed his gratitude to the club for giving him the opportunity to shine – and that facing Chelsea in a televised FA Cup-tie "could be the start of another big opportunity".

He "kept Colchester ticking" as they came close to earning a replay, and played a major part in his team's promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history.

His performances were recognised with a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year.

On 19 June 2006, Danns signed a three-year contract with Birmingham City, newly relegated from the Premier League.

The fee was an initial £500,000 with the potential to rise to £850,000.

He admitted that he "had a great time at Colchester but when a club the size of Birmingham come in for you, it's hard to say no."

He started Birmingham's opening fixture – against Colchester – and was involved in the first goal of a 2–1 win.

In the first half of the season he was a regular on the pitch, either starting or as a used substitute, and scored three times.

He set up a goal for Sebastian Larsson's equaliser against Newcastle United that took the third-round FA Cup-tie to a replay at St James's Park, which Birmingham won 5–1.

In the second half of the campaign, he was used increasingly little in league matches, making only one start and five substitute appearances after the turn of the year; bids from League Two club Nottingham Forest to take him either permanently or on loan were rejected.

He came back into the squad in early April, but his season ended after being sent off for his part in a mass brawl at the end of Birmingham's defeat at Barnsley; he served a three-match ban and was not selected thereafter as Birmingham won four of the last five matches to confirm their promotion to the Premier League as runners-up.

He became a free agent after Bury were expelled from the Football League, and joined Tranmere Rovers in September 2019 until the end of the 2019–2020 season.

He then played in non-league football for Radcliffe, FC Halifax Town, and in the Cymru Premier for Connah's Quay Nomads, before finishing his career at Macclesfield.

He also played internationally for Guyana.

His final season of his club playing career saw him also take the role of player-manager at Macclesfield, which led to him becoming the assistant at Tranmere.

Danns began his football career on schoolboy forms with Liverpool and spent two years at the Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

At 16, he chose to leave Liverpool, and signed for Blackburn Rovers as a trainee "in the face of fierce competition".