| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerard Daniel Brannan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1972-01-15)15 January 1972 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1997 | Tranmere Rovers | 238 | (20) |
| 1997–1998 | Manchester City | 43 | (4) |
| 1998 | →Norwich City (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 1998–2001 | Motherwell | 81 | (16) |
| 2001–2003 | Wigan Athletic | 52 | (0) |
| 2003 | →Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2003 | →Rochdale (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2003–2005 | Accrington Stanley | 49 | (7) |
| 2005 | Radcliffe Borough | 11 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Morecambe | 55 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | Vauxhall Motors | 11 | (1) |
| 2013–2016 | Burscough | 17 | (1) |
| Total | 575 | (52) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023–2024 | Morecambe | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gerard Daniel Brannan (born 15 January 1972) is an English football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager ofAccrington Stanley.
As a player he was amidfielder who notably played in theFootball League forTranmere Rovers,Manchester City andWigan Athletic, as well as in theScottish Premier League forMotherwell. He also played professionally forNorwich City,Dunfermline Athletic andRochdale. He also played non-league football forAccrington Stanley,Radcliffe Borough,Morecambe,Vauxhall Motors andBurscough.
Brannan had a well-travelled career, beginning atTranmere Rovers, before a £750,000 transfer toManchester City in March 1997.[2]
Mostly used as a squad player at Manchester City, he was loaned toNorwich City between August and October 1998, scoring once against Sheffield United,[3] and was then sold toMotherwell for £375,000 in October 1998, thus terminating his spell at Norwich.[4]
Brannan moved ontoWigan in February 2001, where he remained until November 2003, scoring once againstBlackpool in theLeague Cup.[5] Whilst at Wigan he had short loan spells atDunfermline andRochdale.[2]
A free transfer toAccrington Stanley in November 2003 was next on the agenda, where he spent two seasons.[4]
After leaving Stanley, Ged spent a short period playing forRadcliffe Borough before signing forMorecambe in November 2005,[4] making his debut againstCambridge United. Shortly before the match, Morecambe managerJim Harvey suffered a heart attack. Morecambe lost the first match 1–0.[citation needed]
Signed by Harvey as a midfielder, Brannan was soon dropped by caretaker managerSammy McIlroy, but eventually made the right back position his own, after filling in for an injury and putting in several impressive performances. He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for Morecambe in a 2–2 draw withExeter City.[6]
Brannan saw himself out of the team again at the start of the 2006–07 season, asAdam Yates was brought to Morecambe to play at right-back. Brannan filled in central defence during the absence of club captainJim Bentley through injury and made several appearances in midfield.
In December 2006, it was announced Brannan would be moving toSouthport to take the assistant manager position, as club managerPaul Cook was a personal friend. However, Cook was sacked from Southport before the move could take place in the January transfer window, and subsequently Brannan decided to stay with Morecambe. His Morecambe squad number for the 2006–07 season was 12.[citation needed]
Morecambe's triumph presented Brannan with the accolade of becoming the first player to win promotion at both the old and new Wembley.[citation needed]
On 2 November 2007 Brannan came out of retirement and signed forVauxhall Motors and made his debut the next day at Rivacre Park in their home game againstWorcester City. He finished his career withBurscough.
Brannan received a call up by theCayman Islands national team due to a loophole in the regulations, on 29 February 2000 along with several other league players includingBarry Hayles andWayne Collins, at the time both atFulham. Brannan accepted the call up, however FIFA blocked the call-up.[7]
Brannan was the under-23s manager atAccrington Stanley.[8]
In September 2023, Brannan joined the coaching staff at Morecambe.[9] After the departure of managerDerek Adams in November, Brannan was appointed caretaker manager, along withJohn McMahon.[10] Brannan was subsequently appointed as first team manager on 27 November 2023, signing an 18-month contract.[11] With financial issues at the club mounting, Brannan departed the club at the end of the2023–24 season, returning to Accrington Stanley as assistant manager.[12]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Morecambe | 20 November 2023 | 30 April 2024 | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 031.25 | |||
| Total | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 031.25 | |||||