Neil Etherridge

Born Neil Leonard Dula Etheridge on February 7, 1990, Etheridge is an English-Filipino footballer who plays for the Philippine National team and is a goalkeeper for the Fulham football team. He was born in Enfield Town, London, to an English father and a Filipina mother. He started playing football at the age of nine, playing the sport for his school when he attended the Court Moor School in Fleet, Hampshire. While in grade school Etheridge also played for the Hampshire Schools and the Aldershoot & Farnborough.

He later attended the Chelsea Academy in 2003, where he met Philippine teammates James and Phil Younghusband. Etheridge played as a forward but was eventually given the goalkeeper position. In 2006 he transferred to Fulham, shortly before signing up for the Isthmian League Division One South Club on loan for the 2008-2009 season. After undergoing knee surgery in 2009 he returned to Fulham in January and played nine times in the reserves. He signed another deal which keeps him with Fulham until the summer of 2011.

He was first invited to play of the Philippine National team in 2007 but only chose to receive the successive invitations in 2008 after some persuasion by Phil Younghusband. The young Brit made his debut at the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, making a clean sheet but the Philippines still lagged behind in points and eventually bowed to Tajikistan. He again played at the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification, where the Philippine team had better luck and defeated Timor-Leste.