Ged Brannan
Encyclopedia
Gerard Daniel Brannan is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, born on 15 January 1972. He played as a midfielder.

Club career

Brannan had a well-travelled career, beginning at Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

, before a £750,000 transfer to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in March 1997.

Mostly used as a squad player at Manchester City, he was loaned to Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 between August and October 1998, and was then sold to Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...

 for £375,000 in October 1998, thus terminating his spell at Norwich.

Brannan moved onto Wigan
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

 in February 2001, where he remained until November 2003, spending short loan spells at Dunfermline and Rochdale.

A free transfer to Accrington Stanley in November 2003 was next on the agenda, where he spent two seasons.

After leaving Stanley, Ged spent a short period playing for Radcliffe Borough before signing for Morecambe in November 2005, making his debut against Cambridge United
Cambridge United F.C.
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...

. Shortly before the match, Morecambe manager Jim Harvey
Jim Harvey
James "Jim" Harvey is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. He is currently manager of Conference North side Stalybridge Celtic.-Playing career:...

 suffered a heart attack. Morecambe lost the first match 1-0.

Signed by Harvey as a midfielder, Brannan was soon dropped by caretaker manager Sammy McIlroy
Sammy McIlroy
Samuel Baxter "Sammy" McIlroy is a former Northern Ireland international footballer whose clubs included Manchester United....

, but eventually made the right back position his own, after filling in for an injury and putting in several impressive performances.

Brannan saw himself out of the team again at the start of the 2006-07 season, as Adam Yates
Adam Yates
Adam Paul Yates is an English footballer who plays for League Two side Port Vale as a full back. He is a former semi-pro international with England....

 was brought to Morecambe to play at right-back. Brannan filled in central defence during the absence of club captain Jim Bentley
Jim Bentley
Jim Bentley is an English footballer, currently employed as player-manager for League Two club Morecambe.Bentley, who debuted for Telford United in 1997, moved to Morecambe in 2002...

 through injury and made several appearances in midfield.

In December 2006, it was announced Brannan would be moving to Southport
Southport F.C.
Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...

 to take the assistant manager position, as club manager Paul Cook
Paul Cook (footballer)
Paul Anthony Cook is an English former footballer, currently manager of Sligo Rovers in Ireland. He had a lengthy career, playing for a number of clubs in the Football League as a left sided or central midfielder before retiring from the game in 2006.-Playing career:Cook began his career at his...

 was a personal friend. However, Cook was sacked from Southport before the move could take place in the January transfer window, and subsequently Brannan has decided to stay with Morecambe. His Morecambe squad number for the 2006-07 season was 12.

Morecambe's triumph presented Brannan with the accolade of becoming the first player to win promotion at both the old and new Wembley.

On 2 November 2007 Brannan came out of retirement and signed for Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors F.C.
Vauxhall Motors Football Club is an English football club based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, who play in the Conference North. It was originally the works team of the car manufacturer Vauxhall...

 and made his debut the next day at Rivacre Park in their home game against Worcester City
Worcester City F.C.
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at St George's Lane.-History:...

. He now plays for Burscough
Burscough F.C.
Burscough F.C. is an English football club based in Burscough, Lancashire. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and groundshare with Skelmersdale United...

 in the Conference North.

International career

During his time at Motherwell, Brannan received a call up by the Cayman Islands national team
Cayman Islands national football team
The Cayman Islands national football team is the national team of the Cayman Islands and is controlled by the Cayman Islands Football Association. It is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. Cayman Islands' home ground is Truman Bodden Stadium in George Town and their head coach is Mark Campbell...

, on 29 February 2000 along with several other league players including Barry Hayles
Barry Hayles
Barrington Edward "Barry" Hayles is a footballer who plays for Conference South club Truro City as a striker, having previously played for Stevenage Borough, Bristol Rovers, Fulham, Sheffield United, Millwall, Plymouth Argyle, Leicester City and Cheltenham Town...

 and Wayne Collins
Wayne Collins (footballer)
Wayne Collins is an English football midfielder.-References:*...

, at the time both at Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

. Brannan accepted the call up, however, this scheme was soon ended after intervention from FIFA.

External links

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