Gary Brazil

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Gary Brazil
Personal information
Full name	Gary Nicholas Brazil
Date of birth	September 19, 1962 (age 44)
Place of birth	Tunbridge Wells, England
Height	5'9"
Playing position	Striker/ Midfielder
Youth clubs
1979-1980	Crystal Palace
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1980-1985 1985 1985-1989 1989-1990 1990-1996 1996 1996-1997 1997-	Sheffield United Port Vale (Loan) Preston North End Newcastle United Fulham Cambridge United Barnet Slough Town Total	062 0(9) 060(3) 0166 0(58) 023 0(2) 0214 0(48) 01 0(1) 019 0(2) 0? 0(?) 491 (123)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 3, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Gary Brazil b. 19 September 1962, Tunbridge Wells is a former professional footballer in the English football league.

Contents 1 Early days at Palace 2 Sheffield United 3 A Preston hero 4 Newcastle United 5 Onto Fulham 6 Non-League and management 7 External links

[edit] Early days at Palace

Having joined Crystal Palace straight from school in 1979 Gary immediately found it difficult to make any sort of impact at Selhurst Park with manager Terry Venables forming opting to leave Gary out of the exciting young team that were rather prematurely labeled the team of the 80's.Indeed Gary stayed with Palace for just twelve months before he was given the opportunity of first team football with Sheffield United,signing on a free transfer in August 1980.

[edit] Sheffield United

Gary's time a Bramall Lane was a mixed affair for although United gave Gary his real break in the game he was invariably used as a substitute or played in midfield or as a winger instead of in his favourite role as a supporting striker.In fact in nearly five years at United Gary played 78 games of which 30 were as a substitute scoring 10 goals. During his time at United Gary also enjoyed a short loan spell at Port Vale in August 1985 where he scored 3 goals in 6 appearances.

[edit] A Preston hero

It was however in February 1985 that Gary was given the chance of regular football when he along with United defender Bob Atkins were offered the chance to go on loan to struggling Preston North End with a view to making the deal permanent.Although Brazil and Atkins couldn't stop Preston from being relegated they did make enough of an impact to secure a permanent £25,000 joint move to Deepdale.The next season again was a disappointment for although Gary was now a regular and scoring frequently Preston finished the season in 91st place in the Football League forcing the powers that be at Deepdale to make vast changes. With many of the older players having left, a new manager in John McGrath and a new plastic pitch laid for the start of the 1986-87 season. Gary was however by this time disillusioned with the life at Preston and prior to the season went on a months loan to Mansfield Town with the view to making the deal permanent. Surprisingly though Gary didn't do enough to impress stags boss Ian Greaves and he was back at Deepdale for the start of the season. Having spoken with boss McGrath Gary decided to come off the transfer list and duly formed a lethal partnership with John Thomas (one of the few plus points from the season before) scoring nearly 50 goals between them as Preston powered to promotion,Gary also winning the clubs player of the year award.The following season was though one of consolidation with Preston finishing comfortably in mid table after a poor start and also narrowly missing out on a Wembley cup final when they lost to Burnley in the Sherpa Van Trophy semi final.Gary again scored regularly bagging 20 goals for the second successive season.

[edit] Newcastle United

The following season was to be Gary's last with Preston.Preston again started poorly but as results picked up Gary's performances began to attract the attention of the big guns and in February 1989 Gary moved to Newcastle United for a fee of £200,000 of which half was made up in a swap deal with Ian Bogie making the trip to Deepdale.In all Gary played 202 games for Preston scoring a very respectable 72 goals.

[edit] Onto Fulham

As so often happens though,when a player moves up a couple of divisions the do tend to struggle somewhat and Gary was no different.Indifferent form and injuries during his time at St James' Park meant that Gary couldn't create a lasting impact at Newcastle and after just 18 months in which he played 27 games scoring just 2 goals he was on the move again,this time to Fulham for a fee of £110,000.Gary's time at Fulham was personally a happy one for although the club were generally struggling, Gary in six seasons at Craven Cottage played 254 matches scoring 60 goals becoming a firm favourite with the Fulham fans and finding the sort of form that had made him such a favourite with the Preston fans only a few years earlier.

[edit] Non-League and management

Upon leaving Fulham in at the end of 1995-96 Gary had spells at Cambridge United (1 game,1 goal) and Barnet (19 games,2 goals) before moving into non league football with Slough Town. After leaving Slough he moved into coaching where he enjoyed a lengthy spell with Notts County a club he also for a period managed.However Gary eventually left Meadow Lane and although he is still considered to be an excellent coach his present whereabouts are unknown.However in a playing career that lasted 18 years Gary played 529+64 games scoring 155 goals.

[edit] External links

• Gary Brazil profile at soccerbase.com