Footballer Neal a cut above the rest

The Lisburn man has just opened his new NV Barber’s Shop in Longstone and he was delighted to help friend and Linfield captain Michael Gault when it was time for his charity beard to come off.

Michael, along with the rest of the Linfield squad have been supporting ‘Movember’, an effort where participants agree not to shave facial hair, to raise funds and awareness for cancer charities - in Linfield’s case, Bowel Cancer UK.

When it came to saying farewell to the beard Michael had no fears calling upon Neal.

“I have known Neal a long time. I used to play football for his dad when I was with Lisburn Youth,” explains Michael.

“Anyway, if he made a mess of it I would always get him back on the pitch.”

Michael says the fundraising has been going very well. “I have managed to raise over £200 and a lot of the players have done even better so it has been a great success.

“I had the beard for four weeks but was glad to see the end of it. I‘ll not be having one again in a hurry.”

Neal has only opened his new barber shop a few weeks ago, but was happy to be put on the spot.

“I knew I had to get it right because William Murphy was keeping an eye on things,” joked the Distillery player.

“It was all for a good cause so I was only too happy to help out.”