FORMER Swindon Town defender John Neal has died, aged 82, it was confirmed today.

Neal, who went on to a successful managerial career including with Chelsea, passed away on Sunday after a long career in football which took in Hull, Town, Aston Villa and Southend as a player and Wrexham, Middlesbrough and the Blues as a manager.

In a two-year playing stint at the County Ground, Neal played 95 times in the league and FA Cup, scoring twice.

He joined the club from King’s Lynn in July 1957, leaving in the same month in 1959 to join Aston Villa.

Neal was revered at Chelsea as the man who helped to keep the club afloat in the early 1980s Appointed by Chelsea in 1981 as successor to Geoff Hurst, Neal prevented the Blues from slipping into the Third Division and in 1984 guided them to the Second Division title.

He had to stand down in 1985 due to heart surgery and was appointed to the club's board of directors.

Prior to being at Chelsea, Neal had made a huge impression at Wrexham.

Appointed in 1968, he twice took them into the European Cup Winners' Cup owing to their Welsh Cup successes, with brave defeats to Hajduk Split and Anderlecht ending their runs.

He spent four years with Middlesbrough after replacing Jack Charlton in 1977, before the start of his Blues spell.