John Neville Northey (born 29 June 1943) is a former Australian rules football player and coach.
A Derrinallum recruit, the lightly framed Northey was a fleetfooted runner and earned the "swooper" nickname by his ability to get the ball and pass it on to a teammate.
[4] He then went to be the senior coach of Melbourne from 1986 to 1992; his most successful year was when he took the Demons to the 1988 VFL Grand Final, eventually losing to Hawthorn.
After the 1992 season, he decided to leave the Melbourne Football Club and step down as senior coach after struggling to finish 11th and therefore missing out of the finals.
[9] Northey led the Bears to their best ever season in making the preliminary final, before being eliminated by eventual premiers North Melbourne.
[11] Northey led the club into the finals in their inaugural season in 1997, where they finished eighth with ten wins, eleven losses and one draw.
The Lions under Northey were then eliminated by eventual runners-up St Kilda in the first week of the qualifying finals.