 Brazil in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Nicholas Brazil[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-09-19)19 September 1962 (age 62)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder,striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1979–1980 | Crystal Palace | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1985 | Sheffield United | 62 | (9) |
| 1984 | →Port Vale (loan) | 6 | (3) |
| 1985–1989 | Preston North End | 166 | (58) |
| 1989–1990 | Newcastle United | 23 | (2) |
| 1990–1996 | Fulham | 214 | (47) |
| 1996 | Cambridge United | 1 | (1) |
| 1996–1997 | Barnet | 19 | (2) |
| 1997–1998 | Slough Town | 50 | (7) |
| Total | 541 | (129) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1999–2000 | Notts County (caretaker) | ||
| 2001–2002 | Notts County (caretaker) | ||
| 2014 | Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | ||
| 2017 | Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gary Nicholas Brazil (born 19 September 1962) is an English former professionalfootballer and footballmanager. He scored 160 goals in 658 league and cup games in an 18-year professional career.
Starting atCrystal Palace, he turned professional withSheffield United in 1980. Five years later, following aloan spell withPort Vale, he signed withPreston North End. He spent four seasons with Preston, then spent one season atNewcastle United, beforetransferring toFulham in 1990. After six years with the club, he moved on toCambridge United,Barnet, and finallySlough Town. He helped Sheffield United to winpromotion out of theThird Division in 1983–84 and was named Preston North End's Player of the Year in 1987, having helped the club to win promotion out of theFourth Division in 1986–87.
He went intocoaching in 1999, and spent two periods as manager ofNotts County and three spells as acaretaker manager atNottingham Forest, where he was appointed academy manager for nine years, starting in 2014.
Having joinedCrystal Palace straight from school in 1979, Brazil stayed with Palace for just twelve months before taking the opportunity of first-team football withSheffield United, signing on afree transfer in August 1980.[3] In nearly five years atBramall Lane he played 78 games, of which 30 were as asubstitute, scoring 10 goals. The "Blades" sufferedrelegation out of theThird Division in1980–81 underHarry Haslam. AfterIan Porterfield took charge, they then made an immediate return as champions of theFourth Division in1981–82. A mid-table finish in1982–83 followed, before a secondpromotion in three years was achieved with a third-place finish in1983–84. However, they had only finished ahead ofHull City on goals scored.[4] In August 1984 he joinedPort Vale onloan, and scored three goals in six Fourth Division appearances forJohn Rudge's "Valiants".[1]
Brazil was sold on toPreston North End for £25,000 in August 1985 but could not preventTommy Booth's "Lilywhites" from being relegated out of the Third Division.[3] Thenext season again was a disappointment. However, Brazil was now a regular and scoring frequently. Preston finished the season in 91st place in theFootball League and were forced to seek re-election, forcing the powers that be at Deepdale to make vast changes. Brazil was votedPlayer of the Year in 1987, as the club won promotion in second place, with Brazil andJohn Thomas scoring 48 goals between them.[5] The1987–88 campaign was one of consolidation. However, Preston narrowly missed out on aWembley cup final when they lost toBurnley in theFootball League Trophy semi-final. A promotion push in1988–89 ended in defeat to former club Port Vale in theplay-off semi-finals. However, Brazil had already departed, having been picked up byNewcastle United for a fee of £200,000 (of which half was made up in a swap deal withIan Bogie) in February 1989.[3] In all competitions, he had played 202 games for Preston, scoring 72 goals.
Brazil started just three games of the rest ofthe season, as Newcastle suffered relegation out of theFirst Division.ManagerJim Smith gave him just five starts in1989–90 behind strike partnersMark McGhee andMicky Quinn in the first-team pecking order atSt James' Park. In September 1990, he moved on toFulham for a fee of £110,000.[3] In six seasons atCraven Cottage Brazil played 254 matches and scored 60 goals. He hit five goals in1990–91, as the "Cottagers" almost exited the Third Division at the wrong end under the stewardship ofAlan Dicks. Brazil finished as theclub's top scorer in1991–92 with 14 goals, as the club missed out on the play-offs by three places and four points. Following an indifferent1992–93 campaign, he finished as the club's top scorer again in1993–94 with 14 goals; however, his scoring record was not enough to prevent the club slipping into the bottom tier underDon Mackay. An unsuccessful promotion campaign followed in1994–95 underIan Branfoot's stewardship, with Fulham finishing two places and three points outside the play-offs.
Upon leaving Fulham at the end of1995–96 he had spells atCambridge United andBarnet, also of the Third Division.[3] Fulham would finally win promotion out of the division in1996–97 under new bossMicky Adams. In February 1997, he moved intoConference football withSlough Town.[6] He scored on his debut for the club.[6] He had fifteen months with Slough, scoring ten goals in 69 games.[6]
After retiring as a player, Brazil joinedNotts County as acoach and then as assistant manager toSam Allardyce.[7] Following Allardyce's departure toBolton Wanderers in October 1999, Brazil was prompted to take charge of a "Magpies" team that was enjoying a promising start to the season. The team faltered during the first half of 2000 and finished the1999–2000 season in eighth place, two places but 17 points outside the play-offs. Brazil was demoted back down to assistant manager in May 2000, making way forJocky Scott.[8] He did receive a second chance at the helm between October and November 2001 after Scott was sacked following repeated clashes with the board,[9] but this short reign was ended abruptly when Brazil was fired after failing to win a game over five weeks. He went on to serveDoncaster Rovers asyouth team coach.[10]
In May 2012, he was appointed as a youth team coach atNottingham Forest, replacing the departedEoin Jess; he was to work alongsideSteve Chettle.[11] Brazil progressed through the ranks to become Academy Manager at the club in 2014.[12] He becamecaretaker manager of the first-team after the sacking ofBilly Davies in March 2014. During his temporary reign, he handed debuts toBen Osborn,Dimitar Evtimov andStephen McLaughlin, as well as a league debut toDorus de Vries, before returning to his role as Academy manager whilstStuart Pearce took over as first-team manager.[13][14]
He was handed a second spell as caretaker manager of the club after the departure ofPhilippe Montanier in January 2017. On 9 February, following a good start to his caretaker spell, Brazil was confirmed as manager for the rest of the2016–17 season.[15] He was named as EFL manager of the week after overseeing a 3–0 win overBrighton & Hove Albion at theCity Ground on 4 March, having changed the game with his substitution ofZach Clough.[16] However, after Forest underwent a series of five defeats in seven games the club appointedMark Warburton as first-team manager on 14 March.[17]
Credited with the progress ofOliver Burke,Ben Osborn,Joe Worrall,Matty Cash,Jordan Smith andBen Brereton, Brazil signed a signed a new long-termcontract five months later.[18][19] Warbuton was sacked on New Year's Eve, leaving Brazil to again take on the role as caretaker manager.[20] On 7 January, he oversaw Forest's 4–2 victory overArsenal in the Third Round of the FA Cup.[21]Aitor Karanka was appointed as manager the following day.[22]
On 14 October 2020, Nottingham Forest announced that Brazil had signed a new long-term contract with the club. The club announced that he now held the role of Director of Football Development, in which he will assist with Forest's domesticscouting, footballing philosophy and loan programme alongside his role in the club's academy.[23] Brazil's academy graduates have generated over £50 million intransfer revenue for Forest.[24] On 25 May 2021, Nottingham Forest announced that their academy had been upgraded to Category One status. Brazil said "The current and future investments in facilities byMr Marinakis will take us to another level. It is a fantastic opportunity for the club and it will be really exciting for the staff and players to challenge themselves at the elite end of academy football."[25] He left his role as academy manager at Nottingham Forest in June 2023.[26] He went on to work forThe Football Association as head of men's recruitment and retention.[27]
He is the father of former England youth playerEllie Brazil,[28] as well as Jack Brazil, former coach ofNew Mongol Bayangol.[29]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sheffield United | 1980–81 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1981–82 | Fourth Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1982–83 | Third Division | 33 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 5 | |
| 1983–84 | Third Division | 19 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 28 | 2 | |
| 1984–85 | Second Division | 19 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
| Total | 62 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 78 | 10 | ||
| Port Vale (loan) | 1984–85 | Fourth Division | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Preston North End | 1984–85 | Third Division | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| 1985–86 | Fourth Division | 43 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 49 | 18 | |
| 1986–87 | Fourth Division | 45 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 57 | 20 | |
| 1987–88 | Third Division | 36 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 45 | 20 | |
| 1988–89 | Third Division | 25 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 33 | 11 | |
| Total | 166 | 58 | 10 | 3 | 26 | 11 | 202 | 72 | ||
| Newcastle United | 1988–89 | First Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1989–90 | Second Division | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 3 | |
| Total | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 3 | ||
| Fulham | 1990–91 | Third Division | 42 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 5 |
| 1991–92 | Third Division | 46 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 19 | |
| 1992–93 | Second Division | 30 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 7 | |
| 1993–94 | Second Division | 46 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 56 | 19 | |
| 1994–95 | Third Division | 32 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 7 | |
| 1995–96 | Third Division | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 27 | 2 | |
| Total | 214 | 47 | 9 | 1 | 31 | 11 | 254 | 59 | ||
| Cambridge United | 1996–97 | Third Division | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Barnet | 1996–97 | Third Division | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| Slough Town | 1996–97 | Conference | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 4 |
| 1997–98 | Conference | 38 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 56 | 6 | |
| Total | 50 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 69 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 541 | 129 | 38 | 6 | 79 | 25 | 658 | 160 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Notts County (caretaker) | 14 October 1999 | 28 June 2000 | 39 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 030.8 |
| Notts County (caretaker) | 10 October 2001 | 7 January 2002 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 020.0 |
| Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | 24 March 2014 | 3 May 2014 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 022.2 |
| Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | 14 January 2017 | 14 March 2017 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 036.4 |
| Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | 31 December 2017 | 8 January 2018 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 050.0 |
| Total | 81 | 23 | 20 | 38 | 028.4 | ||
Individual
Sheffield United
Preston North End
