Gary Brazil

Football player infobox
playername = Gary Brazil


fullname = Gary Nicholas Brazil
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|09|19
cityofbirth = Tunbridge Wells
countryofbirth = England
height = height|meters=1.75
position = Striker/Midfielder (retired)
youthyears = 1979-1980
youthclubs = Crystal Palace
years = 1980-1985
1985
1985-1989
1989-1990
1990-1996
1996
1996-1997
1997-1998
clubs = Sheffield United
→ Port Vale (loan)
Preston North End
Newcastle United
Fulham
Cambridge United
Barnet
Slough Town
Total
caps(goals) = 062 00(9)
006 00(3)
166 0(58)
023 00(2)
214 0(48)
001 00(1)
019 00(2)
00? 00(?)
491 (123)
pcupdate = 15:27, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

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

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 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.

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.

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 gave Preston new optimism. 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.

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.

Onto Fulham

As so often happens though,when a player moves up a couple of divisions they 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.

In all Gary's playing career lasted 18 years in which he played 529 games scoring 155 goals.

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.

Brazil retired after the conclusion of the 1997-98 season and joined Notts County, first as a coach and then as assistant manager to Sam Allardyce. Following his boss’ departure to Bolton in October 1999, Brazil was prompted to take charge of a Magpies’ team that was enjoying a promising start to the season. Unfortunately the team faltered during the first half of 2000 and Brazil was demoted back down to assistant manger in May 2000, making way for Jocky Scott. He did receive a second chance at the helm between October and November 2001 after Scott was sacked following repeated clashes with the board, but this short reign was ended abruptly when Brazil was fired after failing to win a game over a five week period.

[ [http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/coca_cola/article161320.ece Scott departs at Notts County as Brazil moves up - Football League, Football - Independent.co.uk ] ]

During the 2006-7 season Gary returned to Fulham and is currently coaching the Academy U-18s.

References

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid Gary Brazil profile at soccerbase.com]