FOOTBALL LOVE IN THE FAMILY
BUDWEE FOLLOWING FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS
SOME of Brett Budwee’s fondest football memories came cleaning boots and marking lines.
As a 16-year-old apprentice at Manchester City, completing tasks others would consider chores meant a chance to mingle with some of the game’s greats.
“We went from looking at the players on TV to sitting next to them in the dressing shed,” said Palm Beach’s Gold Coast Premier League coach, now 49.
“The head coach was Billy McNeill, who was captain of Celtic when they won the European Cup.
“I don’t think he knew my name for the first month, he just called me Skippy.
“The apprentices did all the work for the first graders so we cleaned the boots, we marked the lines, we helped the groundsman.
“In those days they had one big bath so you’d all be in the bath together with 20-30 guys. That was pretty daunting.
“Because the youth league was (for under) 19s and we were only 16, we never played any actual games, we only played practice matches.”
A product of western Sydney, Budwee arrived in England via former NSL club Penrith City, where he had impressed coach Willie Wallace enough to earn a recommendation to City counterpart Billy McNeill.
A tough-as-nails defender, Budwee returned from his stint abroad to sign for NSL powerhouse Marconi Stallions, before a two-year loan stint with Mt Pritchard.
“I helped them get promoted into the state league one and then Marconi called me back the next year to go semi-professional. I lasted a year and a half in that set-up … and then I got injured, retired early (at 26) because of family and all that,” said Budwee, who has also coached at Merrimac, Nerang and Gold Coast Knights since moving to the Glitter Strip almost 20 years ago.
“Signing with Marconi when I was young (was special) because that was the club I supported as a kid. In that era Marconi won three NSL titles in a row so it was a good environment.
“I probably (wish I had) treated my injuries a bit better. Marconi was the biggest club in Australia and ... when you got injured that was more or less time to go in the nightclub there.
“So we didn’t really treat our injuries too well. You got paid anyway.”
Now, son Cooper may have the chance to make amends.
The 17-year-old defender has joined the Gold Coast Knights’ under-20 NPL side after spending time with Spanish La Liga club Levante UD at the end of last season.
“It was amazing there. It was a game or two every week and training twice a day so it was full on,” he said.
“They asked me to come back at the start of the year but it’s expensive so I might be going back at the end of the year.
“Dad’s always been around my teams helping out. Sometimes I go to him (for advice).”