Brian Howard (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername = Brian Howard


fullname = Brian Richard William Howard
height = height|ft=5|in=8
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|1|23|df=y
cityofbirth = Winchester
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Sheffield United
(on loan from Barnsley)
clubnumber = 20
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1999–2001
youthclubs = Southampton
years = 2001–2003
2003–2005
2005–
2008–
clubs = Southampton
Swindon Town
Barnsley
→ Sheffield United (loan)
caps(goals) = 000 0(0)
070 0(9)
121 (27)
001 0(0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = England U-20
nationalcaps(goals) = 001 0(0)
pcupdate = 14:10, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 13:01, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Brian Richard William Howard (born 23 January 1983) is an English footballer who plays for Sheffield United of the Championship on loan from Barnsley.

Career

He started his career as a trainee with Southampton but never made a full appearance before signing for Swindon Town in 2003 making his debut on 9 August 2003 against a typically woeful Sheffield Wednesday. He is a former England U-20 international. Despite being born in England, he is also eligible to play for Scotland.

Brian signed for Barnsley from Swindon Town in the summer of 2005 on a two-year contract. It was discovered that he had a broken metatarsal on the first day of pre-season training, and he did not make his Barnsley debut until October. After this Howard became an important member of the promotion-winning team alongside Stephen McPhail in midfield, playing in all three Play-Off games, including the final against Swansea.

Howard was named Barnsley Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season

Brian was made Club Captain at Oakwell on 8 January 2008 by manager Simon Davey. He had been acting captain for most of the 2007–08 season due to the absence of Paul Reid from the first XI.

Howard responded, "It is a massive honour to be the captain of any club, but to be skipper of a side that is doing so well and consistently in the top half of the Championship is a huge thing for me. I think the club have really signalled their intent by giving me the armband. Simon (Davey) has put his faith in me and wants me to be an integral part of the future of this club." [cite news|date=2008-01-09 |url= http://www.barnsleyfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10309~1210400,00.html |title= A very proud moment|publisher=www.barnsleyfc.premiumtv.co.uk|accessdate=2008-01-10] He scored a goal in the 90th minute when Barnsley dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup in February 2008. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7224063.stm "Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 16 February 2008] Barnsley then dumped Chelsea out of the FA Cup, two giant-killing victories in a row. At the end of the same season, Howard was named in the Coca-Cola Championship Team of the Season for his contributions.

Howard was called up by Scotland national football team manager George Burley for their friendly match against Croatia on 26 March; however he was deemed ineligible by FIFA as he had not registered his availability by age 21. He is now in the process of trying to join the Scottish national side.

On 2 October 2008, he joined Sheffield United on loan until January, with an option to purchase at that time. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/7640074.stm |title= Blades sign Howard from Barnsley|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2 October 2008 | accessdate=3 October|accessyear = 2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.barnsleyfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10309~24265,00.html Brian Howard profile] at barnsleyfc.co.uk
*soccerbase|id=35624|name=Brian Howard