Louis Brain

Infobox Football biography
playername = Louis Brain


fullname = Louis Karl Brain
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|05|09
cityofbirth = Birmingham
countryofbirth = England
height = height|m=1.71
position = midfielder
currentclub = Dandenong Thunder
clubnumber = 11
youthyears = 1997-1998
youthclubs = SASI
years = 1998-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2005-2006
2007-present
clubs = Adelaide City Sydney United Brisbane Strikers Adelaide United Dandenong Thunder
caps(goals) = 59 (7) 22 (1) 25 (3) 17 (3)
23 (8)
nationalyears = 1998-1999 2001
nationalteam = Australia U17 Australia U20
nationalcaps(goals) = ? (5) 7 (2)
pcupdate = 04:32, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
ntupdate = 04:32, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Louis Karl Brain (born May 9, 1982 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England) is an English-Australian football (soccer) player who plays as an attacking midfielder. He played for Adelaide United in the newly formed Hyundai A-League's inaugural season, but was delisted in the close season. He has represented Australia at both U-17 and U-20 levels.

Career

Born in England, Louis Brain moved to Australia at the age of nine, and played junior football with the Modbury Jets and Salisbury East in Adelaide. [cite web| title=Louis Brain| url=http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=player_details&playerID=24609| work=PlayerHistory.com| accessdate=September 9| accessyear=2006] At the age of 15, Brain joined the South Australian Sports Institute, and played in their under-23 team in the South Australian Premier League in 1997 and 1998. He joined National Soccer League club Adelaide City in time for the 1998–99 season, but commitments to the Australian U-17 side restricted his season in the top flight. When Brain eventually made his NSL debut, in round 24 against the Brisbane Strikers, he scored the first goal in the match to help Adelaide to a 3-0 victory. [cite web| title=1999 National Soccer League results| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/9899/Round24.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] He played a further five matches at the end of the season as Adelaide went on to finish sixth, [cite web| title=1998–99 Season NSL Table | url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/9899/ALTable.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] but did not play any part in the finals series for Adelaide. [cite web| title=Adelaide City appearances for 1998–99| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSLclubs/AC9899.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain completed a short stint with Para Hills Knights in the SAPL before returning to Adelaide City for the 1999–2000 season. In the three seasons that followed, Brain made a total of 53 appearances and scored 6 goals for Adelaide, but his match time was still being affected by international commitments.

After Adelaide finished second-last in 2001–02, [cite web| title=2001–2002 Season NSL Table| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20012002/ALTable.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain relocated to New South Wales to play for Sydney United. Brain played in all but two of United's matches in 2002–03, starting 19 times and scoring once. [cite web| title=Sydney United roster for 2002–03| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSLclubs/SU0203.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Sydney United missed the finals series, and Brain chose to move further north again, to the Brisbane Strikers for 2003–04. He played in 23 of Brisbane's 24 regular season matches, [cite web| title=Brisbane Strikers playing roster for 2003–04| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSLclubs/BS0304.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] and then played a big hand in both legs of their elimination final against Adelaide United. After losing 3-0 in the away leg, Brain set up one goal for Joshua Rose and then scored one himself with a brilliant individual effort to make the score 3-1 in favour of Brisbane. [cite web| last=Demack| first=Andrew| title=Playoff Report – Brisbane Strikers vs Adelaide United| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20032004/reports/report170.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] The match finished with Brisbane winning 4-1, but Adelaide progressed via the away goals rule.

In February 2005, Brain elected to move back to his home city, and was signed by A-League club Adelaide United as the 15th man on their 20-man roster for the inaugural season. Brain played in the first ever A-League match, against the Newcastle United Jets, and won the dubious honour of being the first player to receive a caution in the newly-formed competition, just 3 minutes in. [cite web| last=Cockerill| first=Michael| date=August 27, 2005| title=Adelaide and Mariners light up new dawn| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/adelaide-hold-off-jets-for-a-historic-victory/2005/08/26/1124563032858.html| work=Sydney Morning Herald| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Just two weeks later, though, he earned another A-League record – the fastest goal scored. In Adelaide's round 3 clash against Melbourne Victory, Brain scored after just 11 seconds, a goal which turned out to be the only difference between the sides. [cite web| date=September 9, 2005| title=Adelaide use their Brain to down Victory| url=http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200509/s1457330.htm| work=ABC Sport| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain made a total of 17 league appearances for Adelaide, mainly from the bench, and scored 3 goals, but his contract was not renewed by the club at the end of the 2005–06 season. [cite web| date=April 21, 2006| title=Coach announces changes to AUFC squad| url=http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=3797| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain went on loan with Adelaide Raiders until his contract with United expired, and then signed for the Modbury Jets. However, he had already played in an FFSA AUFC cup tie for the Raiders, and his subsequent appearance in Modbury's 5-1 win over Adelaide Olympic saw the Jets ejected from the competition. [cite web| last=Lato| first=Daniel| date=August 6, 2006| title=Modbury will contest cup ejection| url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20040370-5006373,00.html| work=AdelaideNow| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006]

Recent efforts to secure Brain a move to Victorian Premier League club Whittlesea Zebras were scuppered by Fawkner Blues who objected to the circumstances surrounding his registration in an unsavoury case of sour grapes between the two Italian clubs. Neither club now holds the registration for the player, so one is left to ponder who benefited from the episode. In particular, Fawkner have been made to look less than professional with their 'if we can't have him no-one can' approach.

Louis Brain has signed for Dandenong Thunder in the 2007 season, he made his debut against Casey and will prove to be a wonderful addition to the squad. Signing for one of the biggest clubs in Victoria, Brain will be an instant hit with the fans as they average around 1500 people per game. Which is more than most premier league clubs who struggle to get 500 people. Brain scored a double against Brunswick to get his goal tally off the mark in Thunders 3-0 win over Brunswick. He was close to a hat-trick only for is shot being fired straight at the keeper. Following the midweek win against Brunswick, Brain followed up on Saturday with another goal as Dandenong Thunder trounced Westgate 6-2. Brain turned the Westgate defender and his shot went past the keeper with a thunderous strike into the top left corner. Louis Brain scored his 4th goal of the season in the 5th minute of play when he cooly slotted home the opener against Port Melbourne in which Dandenong Thunder won 2-1 thanks to a late spectacular goal from striker Veton Korcari who hit a sweetly timed volley into the top corner. Brain scored his 5th goal for the Thunder in their 4-1 trouncing of North Geelong with condemned them to relegation. Brain scored the 3rd goal of the night to put the home side 3 nil up as he chipped the Geelong keeper from an acute angle. Other goalscorers on the night included leading goal scorer Veton Korcari, Nick Papadopoulous and Englishman Jamie Heard. Brain scored the equaliser against Port Melbourne at home. He also scored on the final day of the season as Thunder defeated Casey Comets 2-1.

In his return to the club in 2008, after a mid season transfer, Brain set up Joe Di Iorio to put the Thunder 2 nil up away to St.Albans, as well as creating a number of chances in the sides 2-1 win. Brain scored his first goal for the 2008 season in the clubs 3-1 win over Kingston City in which he opened the scoring with a cool finish past Kingston keeper Mladen Tosic.

International career

Louis Brain began his international representative career with the Australian under-17 team, the Joeys, in 1998. He scored two goals in a 4-0 victory over Japan, held at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. [cite web| title=Joeys 1998 Matches| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Joeys/1998.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] He became a regular in the Joeys squad throughout 1999, especially during qualifying for the 1999 U-17 World Cup, to be held in New Zealand. Brain scored twice during the Oceania qualifying stages, and also the decisive goal in Australia's 1-0 away leg win over Bahrain, which confirmed their place in the tournament. [cite web| title=Joeys 1999 Matches| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Joeys/1999.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] [cite web| title=Bahrain 0 Australia 1| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Joeys/reports/vBAH99a.html| work=Bahrain Tribune| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain toured with the Joeys to South America in the lead-up to the World Cup, and was selected in the 18-man Australian squad to contest the tournament. [cite web| title=New Zealand 1999 – Teams: Australia| url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/PrevSquad/0,4355,AUS-U17-1999-3611-19,00.html| work=FIFA.com| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Brain played in all six of Australia's matches at the World Cup, [cite web| title=New Zealand 1999 – Disciplinary| url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/PrevDisciplinary/0,5861,U17-1999-I,00.html| work=FIFA.com| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] as the team advanced to the tournament final to meet Brazil. Brain picked up a yellow card in the final minute of extra time as Australia went down 8-7 in a penalty shootout after the match finished at 0-0. [cite web| title=Match Report: Australia – Brazil| url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/report/0,3647,U17-1999-32-18496-AUS-BRA,00.html| work=FIFA.com| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006]

Brain made his debut for the Young Socceroos (under-20) in 2001, playing 30 minutes against Japan during the East Asian Games.cite web| title=Young Socceroos 2001 Matches| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/U20/2001.html| work=OzSoccer| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] In the following match, a 6-0 win over Guam, Brain made his first start for the Young Socceroos, celebrating by scoring his first U-20 international goal in the 12th minute, following by a second in the 48th. [cite web| title=Australia vs Guam| url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/U20/reports/vGUA2001.html| work=Soccer Australia| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Australia reached the final of the competition, but fell to Japan 2-1. [cite web| title=Internationals 2001| url=http://home.alphalink.com.au/~warrior/int2001.htm| work=Socceroos Realm| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] Mid-year, Brain was selected in the 18-man squad for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. [cite web| title=Argentina 2001 – Teams: Australia| url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/PrevSquad/0,4355,AUS-U20M-2001-4295-19,00.html| work=FIFA.com| accessdate=September 8| accessyear=2006] He played just once in the tournament, the first half of Australia's 1-1 draw with Angola which put the team through to the second round.

Footnotes

References

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