Neil David Redfearn (born 20 June 1965) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Farsley Celtic.

Redfearn, a midfielder, played 790 matches in the Football League, the sixth highest total of all time, and more than a thousand first team games overall in a career that has spanned 24 years.

Born in Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire, Redfearn began his career at Bolton Wanderers on 23 June 1982, having previously been on the books of Nottingham Forest's youth team.

Redfearn's last season with Oldham constituted a career highlight as he was an ever-present in the team that won the Second Division title and returned the Latics to the top-flight of English football after a gap of 68 years.

Redfearn converted the injury time penalty kick in the final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday that completed a 3–2 victory (after Oldham had trailed 2–0), and snatched the championship from West Ham United, who had prematurely been handed the trophy some 15 minutes earlier.

In the 1996–97 season, Redfearn scored 17 goals as Barnsley won promotion to the FA Premier League for the first time in the club's history.

These included Barnsley's first ever top division goal on the opening day of the season, when he put them ahead in the ninth minute at home to West Ham United, although they ended up losing the game 2–1.

However, despite being in his thirties, Redfearn's performances had made him a wanted man in the Premier League, and he was signed by Charlton Athletic for £1 million in the summer of 1998.

[6] However, his contract with the club was terminated on 25 April and having been snubbed for the permanent manager's job he joined Boston United as player-coach.

[12] When Henry was dismissed on 24 October 2005 Redfearn was named caretaker manager,[13] before being appointed permanently on 1 November while remaining registered as a player.

[17] He made his 1,000th competitive appearance on 4 November 2006, when Bradford Park Avenue faced Solihull Borough in the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy.

[27] He took over as caretaker manager at York on 21 November 2008, following Colin Walker's dismissal,[28] and was in charge for the team's 2–2 draw against Crawley Town.

[30] Redfearn left York over a month later after being appointed coach of the under-18 academy team at Leeds United on 30 December 2008 and he assumed this role on 1 January 2009.

[36] In April 2012, Redfearn guided Leeds' Under 18's side to a second-place finish in the Under-18s League, narrowly missing out on top spot to Newcastle's Under-18s team.

[46][47] On 27 October 2014 Redfearn confirmed that he verbally agreed to become head coach of Leeds after receiving reassurances that if it does not work out, he will revert to his previous job back in the academy.

[54] On 9 April, after rumoured Premier League interest in Alex Mowatt and teammates Lewis Cook, Charlie Taylor and Sam Byram, Redfearn challenged Leeds United's owners to keep a hold of their home grown talents.

[55] On 18 April 2015, six of owner Massimo Cellino's signings (Mirco Antenucci, Giuseppe Bellusci, Souleymane Doukara, Dario Del Fabro, Marco Silvestri and Edgar Cani) controversially pulled out of the squad with an 'injury' the day before a 2–1 loss against Charlton Athletic.

[57] On 16 May, with speculation increasing about his future as Leeds United Head Coach, Cellino in an interview with the Sunday Mirror said that Redfearn was "weak" and "a baby".

[67] On 4 July 2019, Redfearn was announced as the caretaker head coach, assisted by Ben Dawson after the departure of manager Rafael Benítez on 30 June.