Neil McNab began his career in 1972 with Greenock Morton where he made 14 appearances before 1974, becoming the club’s youngest ever professional. He was signed by Tottenham Hotspur and became their youngest ever first team player at age 16. He made 72 appearances for Spurs, scoring 3 goals.
In November 1978 he was transferred to Bolton Wanderers for a fee of £250,000, making 35 appearances and scoring 4 goals, before Brighton & Hove Albion acquired his services for the fee of £220,000 in February 1980.
Then after 115 appearances for the Seagulls he signed in 1983 for Manchester City with whom he stayed until 1990. He was arguably City’s player of the eighties, being voted Player of the Year in both the 1986–87 and 1988–89 seasons.
A skilful and very combative defensive midfielder, Neil inspired a young team to promotion from the Second Division in 1989. He played 221 league matches for City and scored 16 goals.
He left for Tranmere Rivers in January 1990 for £125,000, the third six-figure move of his career, and played over 100 first-team games for them.