GOOD, BAD & UGLY
Guy Branston reveals the ups and downs of his career
BY his own admission, Guy Branston was never cut out for life in the rarefied air of England’s top flight. “I wasn’t good enough to play that soft, tippy-tappy football,” says the 35-year-old, who started out at Martin O’Neill’s Leicester before embarking on a nomadic career that spanned five divisions and 20 clubs. “So I developed the skills that I had and, in the end, I made a bloody good living out of it.”
Those skills have left many a centre-forward polaxed and kept plenty of referees busy, with ‘Branno’ never less than 100 per cent committed and 100 per cent aggressive.
Now retired, the 35-year-old runs a website – www.allaboutballerz.com - providing a platform for players to market themselves via video uploads and has also co-authored a book – The Footballler’s Journey – featuring advice from a host of past and present pros on how to make it in the game.
Here, though, he tells us the story of his own career, from coming through the ranks with an England star to being “too nasty” for Leicester and even helping to wind up Jason Lee.
FIRST CLUB
Leicester City. I’m from a place called Braunstone which is basically a road away from the training ground and full of massive Leicester supporters. I was brought up on the likes of Brian Little and Mark McGhee so it was a great honour.
I was playing for a team called Narborough & Littlethorpe, a Division Two side from the back end of Leicester. I was 12, playing in the U14s.
One year, we drew a side called Ratby & Groby in the local cup. Up front for them was a big striker called Emile Heskey and it was my good fortune that Leicester’s youth team manager – Dave Nish – had come to watch him.
I played really well against him that day, then again in the league a few weeks later. I was getting changed afterwards and Dave came up and said, ‘Do you fancy coming to train with us?’ He’d been impressed by how I dealt with Heskey and when he realised how young I was he basically said ‘Get him in’.
It was a fantastic upbringing. A Premier League upbringing. But I was too wild, too ruthless to succeed at that level. All I had in my head was being a big, nasty centre-half. I should have reined in the anger and aggression and tried to develop as a footballer.
I spent all my time on loan and by the time I was 20, I wanted out. I didn’t want to get stuck in a rut and end up not having a career.
BEST MANAGER
The one I enjoyed most success with was Ronnie Moore. He managed me very well – he let me be me and helped me develop into a League One player. And I’d like to think I repaid him by helping him get the Oldham job!
He’s just a genuinely good person who doesn’t deserve what’s happened to him. I think he should be back in football and I think he’d do very well as an assistant to a younger manager. He’s a top bloke with a lot to offer.
BEST TEAM-MATE
It has to be Heskey. I watched him grow up, from a young centre-half at Ratby & Groby in the Leicestershire Sunday League to a centre-forward with 62 caps for England.
He was just an all-round athlete. His touch was fantastic, his pace was fantastic. He could take people on or knock them out of the way. And he made anyone who played with him look good.
FIRST PROMOTION
Colchester United in 1997-98. I was on loan from Leicester and, after 14 straight games I got sent off in the play-off semi-final win over Barnet.
I was devastated to miss the final – but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Martin O’Neil had been keeping tabs on me and when he realised I was suspended he invited me on Leicester’s pre-season tour of the USA.
By the end of the summer, I’d signed a two-year pro contract and was training with the first-team. I actually watched Colchester win promotion on TV in the States.
FUNNIEST PLAYER
Rob Kozluk at Bradford. He was such a character. He played god knows how many games under Neil Warnock at Sheffield United and he had a million anecdotes from that time.
His stories were funny, the things he did to people were funny, the way he spoke to the gaffer – so condescending but funny with it – just made me laugh every day.
FUNNIEST INCIDENT
I was at Kettering with John Dempster when we signed Jason Lee. Now, I was a big name at Kettering but this was Jason Lee – ex-Premier League striker.
Anyway, he’s walked in on day one and John’s got up and said “Alright Jason, how you doing? It’s John, we used to play together at Watford”.
You could tell by the look on Jason’s face that he didn’t have clue who John was but he’s just gone,‘Oh yeah, I remember, how’ve you been?’
Now, the other lads were completely oblivious but I’d been with John when he was a kid at Rushden and I knew full well that he’d never set foot in Watford in his life. He couldn’t have anyway – he was about 15 years younger than Jason so he’d have been about 11 at the time!
But Jason was too embarrassed to say anything and for the next three months John kept it going. He’d do research into the players at Watford and make up anecdotes about things they’d done.
We’d be sat on the bus or in training and he’d be, “Hey Jason, do you remember when we did this at Watford? Can you remember when that happened?.”
And Jason would be going “Err, yeah, I think so”. Eventually, Jason sat
Toughest opponent: Michael Owen me down over a cup of tea one day and said “You know what? I f*****g Googled that John Dempster and he’s never even been to Watford!” He was furious!
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT
Being named in the PFA Team of the Year for League Two in 2009-10.To get an honour like that from your fellow pros beats any trophy or promotion.
I’d had a really tough couple of years trying to get back into the Football League after dropping into the Conference North with Kettering. So first to get a move to Burton, then to Torquay and then to rip it up like I did – that four or five years were amazing and getting an accolade like that really crowned it.