Gary Brabin

Gary Brabin

Personal information
Full name	Gareth Brabin
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Cambridge United (manager)

Gareth "Gary" Brabin (born December 9, 1970 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English former professional footballer. He is currently manager of Cambridge United. He was an England semi-professional international.

Playing career

Brabin began his career as an apprentice with Stockport County, signing professional on the 14th of December 1989. After only 2 appearances for the Stockport first team he was released. He joined Gateshead, playing 12 times in the Conference National, before moving to Runcorn in 1991, supplementing his part-time playing income by working as a nightclub bouncer in Liverpool.

Brabin returned to league football in 1994, soon after playing in his second successive FA Trophy final for the Linnets, signing for Doncaster Rovers on the 26th of July for a fee of £45,000. The same year he had played 3 times for the England Semi-Professional side in games against Wales, Finland and Norway. At Doncaster he was nicknamed 'Sumo' by the fans who were impressed by his workrate. He played 59 league games for Doncaster, scoring 11 times before moving to Bury for £125,000 on the 29th of March 1996. He played only 5 league games for Bury, moving on in the summer, joining Blackpool for £200,000 on the 30th of July 1996. While at Blackpool, an alleged incident in the Brentford changing room putting Brentford captain Jamie Bates in hospital, and a sending off at Crewe, after which his team-mates and coaching staff had to haul him off of the player he had fouled, and away from the Crewe bench and fans. He also received plenty of attention at Blackpool for a stunt he pulled during the pre-season photo call. He placed a condom on the shoulder of the player in front of him, and it went unnoticed for some time - long enough for the photo to be printed in the local newspaper and widely distributed. His behaviour was not appreciated by Blackpool manager Nigel Worthington, who sent him on loan to Lincoln City on the 11th of December 1998, where he was to play 4 league games. At the end of his loan spell he returned to Blackpool, but just 2 days later, on the 8th of January 1999 he signed for Hull City. He had played 50 league games for Blackpool, scoring twice.

Brabin fitted in quickly to a struggling Hull side and played a major role in keeping them in the Football League, his strong-tackling style earning him the nickname 'the enforcer'. The following season he struggled on with a neck injury, but returned to full fitness to help Hull reach the play-offs in 2000-01. As Hull regrouped after the financial battle that almost finished them, Brian Little began a massive overhaul of the side, and Brabin did not fit into these plans. By the end of July, he had been advised not to attend training at Boothferry Park any longer and to find himself a new club. On the 14th of August 2001, he agreed a compensation package with Hull City and left the club with a year remaining on his contract, having played 95 league games and scored 9 goals for the Tigers. Prior to this, he had already been linked with moves to Darlington, Rochdale, Lincoln City and Halifax Town, but by the 3rd of September he was still without a club, though training with St Johnstone, and joined Plymouth Argyle on trial. A day later he joined Torquay United on trial, playing in a training game at Plainmoor, after having talks with manager Roy McFarland the previous week. The following day he travelled to Scotland for further trials, firstly with Dundee and then with Dundee United, playing for United in a reserve match against Aberdeen on the 10th of September 2001.

On the 23rd of September 2001, Brabin signed for Conference side Boston United on non-contract terms. However, McFarland's perseverance paid off and Brabin signed a 2-year contract with Torquay United on the 4th of October, his debut coming the following day in the 2-1 win against David Webb's Southend United at Plainmoor. He was sent off for violent conduct on his return to Boothferry Park as Torquay lost to Hull City and was later sent off in the home game against Exeter City to give him a seven-match suspension within two months of signing. His contract was terminated by mutual consent on the 30th of November 2001 after he failed to settle at the club and in the South Devon area, which he called unappealing in an interview, not the best way of getting the local fans on his side.

In December 2001, Brabin joined Chester City on trial, signing a contract with them the following month. Despite only spending half a season with the club, he was named as Chester's player of the season, with his presence and leadership having helped the club avoid relegation from the Nationwide Conference. In July 2002 he joined Welsh League side TNS, playing in European games for the Welsh champions. After suffering a bout of breathlessness at Connah's Quay in February 2004 he decided to retire from the game on medical advice.

Brabin joined Unibond League side Witton Albion as assistant manager in November 2004 and surprisingly resurrected his playing career in summer 2005 with a move to Conference National side Halifax Town. After just 4 games for Halifax, he moved to fellow Conference side Southport in January 2006.

In November 2006 he signed for Unibond Premier League side Burscough where he has assisted with coaching in addition to his playing duties. Brabin was a key member of the Burscough squad that clinched the Unibond League title in April 2007, securing the Lancashire team automatic promotion to the Conference North.

In June 2007, Brabin was appointed as assistant manager of The New Saints.

Managerial career

In April 2008 Brabin re-joined Southport as manager until the end of the 2007-08 season, replacing Peter Davenport. Despite guiding the team into the play-offs, Brabin left Southport to sign as manger of Cambridge United on 23 June 2008. Brabin won his first home game as manager of Cambridge United in July 2008, leading Cambridge United to a 4-2 victory over Everton Football Club in a pre-season friendly.

References

• Gary Brabin at Soccerbase
• Welsh Premier Players
• Independent site profile