Former West Ham United captain Lucas Neill is back in English football after signing a short-term contract with Watford.
The 35-year-old Australian international has joined the Championship club for the remainder of the 2013/14 season, subject to international clearance being obtained.Neill spent just over two years in east London having rejected Liverpool in order to join the Icelandic revolution in January 2007. He was named club captain upon the sale of predecessor Nigel Reo-Coker to Aston Villa in July of the same year.
He left West Ham in the summer of 2009 having rejected a one-year contract extension, said to be worth around half the £70k-per-week "Magnusson" contract he previously enjoyed. A brief spell at Everton then followed before Neill moved to Turkey in order to join Galatasaray.
After a year-and-a-half with Gala, Neill moved on to UAE Pro League Club Al Jazira before being released a year later. Three months at Al Wasl followed - after which he was effectively fired as the club's lone foreign player.
In February last year the right back returned to Australian where he signed a short-term deal with the A-League club. Just six months later the globetrotting Neil was off to Japan, where he signed a four-month deal with Omiya Ardija. A contract extention was not forthcoming, hence Neill's return to English football.
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