John Brayford

John Brayford
Brayford playing for Cardiff City in 2013
Personal information
Full name John Robert Brayford[1]
Date of birth (1987-12-29) 29 December 1987[2]
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Burton Albion
Number 2
Youth career
Manchester City
0000–2006 Burton Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Burton Albion 77 (7)
2008–2010 Crewe Alexandra 81 (2)
2010–2013 Derby County 109 (3)
2013–2015 Cardiff City 26 (0)
2014 → Sheffield United (loan) 15 (1)
2015–2017 Sheffield United 44 (2)
2016–2017 → Burton Albion (loan) 33 (0)
2017– Burton Albion 36 (0)
National team‡
2007–2008 England C 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:45, 8 October 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:35, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

John Robert Brayford (born 29 December 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Burton Albion. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, he began his career at non-league Burton Albion before moves to Crewe Alexandra and Derby County preceded his time at Cardiff. He also spent time on loan at Sheffield United prior to joining permanently and has made seven appearances for the England C team.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

As a youth player, Brayford had played for Manchester City but was released by the club at a young age. He instead joined non-league side Burton Albion, becoming the first graduate of the club's revamped youth academy.[3] He made almost 80 league appearances, before signing for League One side Crewe Alexandra on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee on 1 September 2008.[4] Burton later revealed that the fee was an initial up-front payment of £80,000, which would be raised to £130,000 if he were to progress into the first team.[5] He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 defeat to Scunthorpe United on 11 October.[6] Although Brayford's first season with Crewe ended in relegation for the club, it was a successful season on a personal level, as he won the Fans' Player of the Season,[7] and attracted the interest of several bigger clubs.

In the summer of 2009, Crewe confirmed Brayford's former manager Nigel Clough was interested in taking Brayford to Derby County,[8] and that they were prepared to sell him to a club that matched Crewe's valuation of the player.[9] No deal materialised however and Brayford remained with Crewe for the full 2009–10 season, missing just one game and being named captain. Starting the season at right back, he finished it at centre half and earned a place in the PFA Football League Two Team of the Season as well as retaining the club's Player of the Season award.

With this form, Derby's long standing interest seemed to have reached its conclusion with reports that the Crewe had agreed a deal for £400,000 plus add-ons,[10] though this was denied by Crewe boss Dario Gradi.[11] Brayford was again linked with Derby as part of a joint £1m move to the Rams with teammate James Bailey,[12] with Crewe confirming that an offer for the pair, of around £1m, rising to £1.3m with add-ons and a percentage sell on clause, had been accepted.[13]

Derby County

Brayford formally completed his move to Derby County on 19 May 2010 for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year deal.[14] With the sale of Paul Connolly to Leeds United, Brayford found himself as the only naturally right sided defender at the club and was placed straight into the first team during the club's 2010–11 pre season fixtures.[15] Brayford kept his place when the 2010–11 Championship season began, and played every minute of all Derby's 48 league and cup matches during the season. Although primarily employed as a right back, consistent injuries to other members of the Derby defence saw Brayford employed at centre-back and left-back through the course of the campaign. Earning plaudits for his ability to combine an attacking role with his defensive duties, Brayford scored once (in a 4–1 home victory over Watford) and assisted three times, and was considered one of the star performers as Derby initially challenged for promotion (being 4th in the table in November 2010) before a run of 4 wins in 24 games saw them plummet down to 19th in the table by the end of April. He was named the Derby County Supporters' Club Player of the Year at a Gala Dinner on 19 April 2011,[16] before picking up The Jack Stamps Trophy before the final home game of the season against Bristol City on 30 April, having won the voting by a "considerable margin."[17]

In August 2011, Brayford signed a new contract extending his stay at the club until the summer of 2014.[18] He appeared in Derby's first ten games of the season, as Derby had their best start to a season for over 106 years, picking up 19 points from the first 10 games to sit third in the table. However, an injury in training, prior to the match against league leaders Southampton, ended a run of 59 consecutive appearances and caused him to miss his first minutes of Derby action since joining 15 months previously.[19] In his absence, Derby recorded just five points from six games to fall out of the play off places. Brayford returned in a 2–0 defeat against Hull City on 19 November 2011,[20] however he picked up a thigh injury in the following game.[21] keeping him out of action for a further three weeks.[22] Having returned to the side, a recurrence of his thigh injury in February ruled brayford out for a further six weeks.[23] Brayford returned to the first team squad in April 2012,[24] but was unable to reclaim a regular spot in Derby's starting eleven.

Brayford playing for Derby County in 2012

Brayford started the 2012–13 season as the regular starter at right back once more and scored his first goal in over two years in a 4–1 win at home to Blackpool.[25] In November, Brayford was linked with a move to Premier League side West Ham United amid rumours that Derby needed to raise funds in the summer,[26] although Rams manager Nigel Clough denied the rumours.[27] During the January transfer window, Brayford was linked with a move to Championship leaders Cardiff City, however after the transfer window closed Brayford dismissed these rumours and stated his intention to stay at Derby.[28] Brayford's ever present role in Derby's starting eleven during the season was apparently ended in early March when he sustained a torn hamstring.[29] Brayford did return for the final five games of the season, but having only a year left on his contract, manager Nigel Clough expected Brayford to move to a Premier League club during the summer of 2013.[30] The first confirmed interest in Brayford came at the end of June 2013, when a £1m bid from Wigan Athletic was rejected by Derby.[31] However a month later, a £1.5 million bid from Premier League newcomers Cardiff City was accepted.[31]

Cardiff City

On 26 July 2013 Brayford signed a four-year contract with Cardiff City, becoming City's second signing of the summer.[31] Brayford was unable to make the break into Cardiff's first team however, playing only two League Cup matches during the first half of the 2013–14 season. His failure to even make the substitutes bench in any other match led to speculation that he would be allowed to return to former club Derby County by manager Malky Mackay.[32] Following Mackay's dismissal, Brayford continued to be overlooked by his replacements and did not even make the Cardiff bench for their league games.[33]

On 24 January 2014 Brayford joined Sheffield United on loan until the end of the season to be reunited with Nigel Clough for the third time in his career,[34] and made his debut two days later in a 1–1 FA Cup draw with Fulham.[35] Sporting a beard during his time with the Blades, Brayford became a cult figure with the fans,[36] as the team rose from the bottom of the table to finish seventh and reach the FA Cup semi-final. Brayford finished his loan having played 20 times, scoring twice.[37] Sheffield United had hoped to resign Brayford in the summer transfer window, however Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær insisted that he wanted to give Brayford a chance in the first team following his successful loan.[38]

With Cardiff City back in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League, Brayford became first choice right-back for the Bluebirds and played 28 times in all competitions during the first half of the 2014–15 season.[39] On 23 January 2015, it was confirmed that Cardiff City had rejected a £1.2 Million bid from Sheffield United for Brayford.[40]

Sheffield United

On 24 January 2015, Brayford signed for former loan club Sheffield United on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £1.5 Million.[39][40] Brayford later revealed that he took a pay cut to rejoin Sheffield United.[41]

Burton Albion

Brayford returned to Burton on 31 August 2017 for a third spell following his time there at the start of his career and the loan spell he had at the end of the 2016-17 season. This was following his release from Sheffield United after 2 and a half years at the club. he signed a two-year deal.[42] It was the fourth time in his career he had joined forces with manager Nigel Clough.

Career statistics

As of 14 March 2015.[43]
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup FL Trophy FA Trophy Conf. Cup Play-Offs Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Burton Albion2005–06Conference 1000––––00–––– 10
2006–07Conference 25100––––20–––– 271
2007–08Conference 45540––––612020 596
2008–09Conference 6100––––0000–– 61
Burton Albion Total 777400000812020938
Crewe Alexandra2008–09League One 362400000–––––– 402
2009–10League Two 450101010–––––– 480
Crewe Alexandra Total 812501010000000882
Derby County2010–11Championship 4611010–––––––– 481
2011–12Championship 2302010–––––––– 260
2012–13Championship 4012110–––––––– 432
Derby County Total 10925130000000001173
Cardiff City2013–14Premier League 000020–––––––– 20
2014–15Championship 2601010–––––––– 280
Cardiff City Total 260103000000000300
Sheffield United (loan)2013–14League One 15151–––––––––– 202
Sheffield United2014–15League One 171–––––––––––– 171
Sheffield United Total 322510000000000373
Career Total 32413192701081202036316

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/09/2011 and 30/09/2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  2. 1 2 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  3. ↑ "John Brayford". Burton Albion F.C. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. ↑ "Crewe snap up Burton's Brayford". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  5. ↑ "Burton release Brayford details". BBC Sport. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  6. ↑ "Scunthorpe 3–0 Crewe". BBC Sport. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Brayford wins Player of the Year". The Crewe Chronicle. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Brayford flattered by Derby link". BBC Sport. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "Crewe confirm Brayford interest". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "Crewe Alex: Brayford set for Derby move". This Is Staffordshire. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "Gradi – No Brayford bids". Sky Sports. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Derby weigh up move for Crewe's Brayford and Bailey". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Crewe Duo Set For Derby". This Is Staffordshire. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Derby Land Brayford & Bailey". Derby County F.C. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Chesterfield 4–5 Derby". Derby County F.C. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Brayford Claims Supporters Club Award". Derby County F.C. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Brayford Named Player Of The Season". Deby County F.C. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  18. ↑ "Brayford Commits His Future To Derby". Derby County. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "Clough pleased with Derby character". BBC Sport. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  20. ↑ "Derby 0 – 2 Hull". BBC Sport. 19 November 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  21. ↑ "Brayford injury is concern for boss Clough". This is Derbyshire. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Ipswich 1 – 0 Derby". BBC Football. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  23. ↑ "Derby defender John Brayford ruled out for six weeks". BBC Sport. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  24. ↑ "Clough is hoping that his side can follow high standard set by the consistent Bluebirds". This is Derbyshire. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "Derby 4–1 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ram raid: West Ham line up move for Derby defender John Brayford". Daily Mirror. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  27. ↑ "No bids for promising Ram". Eurosport. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  28. ↑ "Window talk was not a distraction for Derby County's John Brayford". This is Derbyshire. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "John Brayford set to make an early return to action for Derby County". This is Derbyshire. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  30. ↑ "Derby County: Nigel Clough fears John Brayford could leave". BBC Sport. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  31. 1 2 3 "Cardiff City sign John Brayford from Derby County". BBC Sport. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  32. ↑ "Brayford cleared for Derby return as Cardiff boss Mackay eyes Burnley defender Trippier". Daily Mail. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  33. ↑ "Cardiff City defender Kevin McNaughton determined to get more Premier League football after surprise call-up". Wales Online. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  34. ↑ "Scougall and Brayford join Sheffield United". BBC Sport. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  35. ↑ "Defender's debt of gratitude to Clough". The Sheffield Star. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  36. ↑ "Robbie Savage with Sheffield United's John Brayford". BBC Sport. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  37. ↑ "Games played by John Brayford in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  38. ↑ "Sheffield United: Brayford blow for Blades". Sheffield Star. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  39. 1 2 "John Brayford: Sheffield United sign Cardiff City full-back". BBC Sport. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  40. 1 2 "Cardiff City defender John Brayford on brink of Sheffield United switch as Lee Peltier deal nears completion". Wales Online. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  41. ↑ "John Brayford: Sheffield United return delights former Cardiff man". BBC Sport. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  42. ↑ "BRAYFORD BACK FOR BREWERS". www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk. 31 August 2017.
  43. ↑ "John Brayford". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
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