Chris Brunt

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Chris Brunt
Personal information
Full name Christopher Brunt
Date of birth December 14, 1984 (1984-12-14) (age 23)
Place of birth    Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current club West Bromwich Albion
Number 29
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2002–2004
2004
2004–2007
2007–		 Middlesbrough
→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)
Sheffield Wednesday
West Bromwich Albion		 000 0(0)
006 0(2)
134 (21)
029 0(2)   
National team2
2005–2006
2004–		 Northern Ireland U21
Northern Ireland		 002 0(1)
017 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 15:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 6 Aug 06.
* Appearances (Goals)

Christopher "Chris" Brunt (born December 14, 1984 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish footballer, currently playing for West Bromwich Albion.

Contents

[edit] Career

He grew up in Belfast, where he attended Newtownbreda Primary School, he then went on to study at Wellington College a leading Grammar school in Belfast. He began his career playing for St. Andrews FC youth football teams, during which time he had trials with top English professional teams such as Manchester United and Middlesbrough, eventually signing for the latter.

[edit] Sheffield Wednesday

After failing to break into the first team at Middlesbrough, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 2004 on an initial short-term deal. A permanent free transfer followed soon after as Brunt signed a two-year contract at Wednesday.[1] In 2004-05, his first full season at the club, Brunt helped Wednesday achieve promotion to the Championship by scoring 5 goals. In July 2005 he agreed a one-year extension to his existing contract.[2]

He went on to hit seven goals the following season, finishing the campaign as the club's top goalscorer. During the 2006-07 campaign Brunt passed the 100 appearance mark for Wednesday, making him the club's most experienced player at the time. He also won the Owls' Player of The Month competition six times. After scoring a number of wonder goals in the 2006-07 season, Brunt revealed he eats gummy bears at half time to energise himself for the second half. His performances earned him a call-up to the Northern Ireland national side.

Due his to his impressive displays during the 2006-07 season Chris was linked with a move away from Hillsborough in the summer, a rumour which Chris himself denied stating 'I want to stay with Wednesday and score as many goals as possible'. This gave some relief to Wednesday fans who saw him as one of their best players. This was proved when he came top of a poll with 45% of the votes on Vital Football to be named the best Sheffield Wednesday player of the 2006-07 season. He was also included in the, 'Unsung heroes in Championship XI' for the 2006-07 season on the website, 'teamtalk.com'.[3]

With only one year remaining on his contract, negotiations between Brunt and Wednesday broke down in July 2007, due to what the club described as 'excessive wage demands'.[4]

Brunt was linked to Premier League sides Manchester City and Wigan, with Wigan boss Chris Hutchings saying that Brunt is one of four or five players he is looking to sign. Fulham had a bid rejected in July 2007, and, according to reports, he also attracted the interest of Everton, and fellow Championship side West Bromwich Albion.

[edit] West Bromwich Albion

Albion had a bid accepted for Brunt on 14 August 2007.[5] They completed the signing the next day, in a £3 million four-year deal, which includes £500,000 of performance-related add-ons.[6] Brunt made his Albion debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 home win over Barnsley on 1 September, 2007.[7] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 victory away at Scunthorpe United on 22 September, 2007.[8] Brunt's performance in the 3–0 home win against Plymouth Argyle on 1 March 2008 saw him named in the Championship Team of the Week.[9] On 28 April 2008 Brunt scored a late equalizing goal against Southampton in a 1–1 draw; this effectively secured Albion's promotion to the Premier League because of their superior goal difference.[10] He went on to score the free kick in West Brom's 2-0 win over QPR that sealed automatic promotion in some style.[11]

[edit] Honours

[edit] With Sheffield Wednesday

[edit] With West Bromwich Albion


[edit] Personal life

Brunt became a father for the first time on 1 May 2008, when his partner Cathy gave birth to a baby boy named Charlie.[12][13] Brunt drives an Audi Q7.[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Brunt agrees to Owls move", BBC Sport, 2004-04-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. 
  2. ^ "Brunt extends stay at Sheff Wed", BBC Sport, 2005-07-04. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. 
  3. ^ Unsung heroes in Championship XI
  4. ^ "Owls call off Brunt negotiations", BBC Sport, 2007-07-26. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. 
  5. ^ Owls accept Brunt bid
  6. ^ West Brom complete £3m Brunt deal
  7. ^ "WBA vs Barnsley", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2007-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-09-01. 
  8. ^ "Scunthorpe vs WBA", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2007-09-22. Retrieved on 2007-09-22. 
  9. ^ Coca-Cola Championship Team Of The Week (03/03/2008) (pdf). The Football League (2008-03-03). Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  10. ^ Bevan, Chris. "West Brom 1-1 Southampton", BBC Sport, 2008-04-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  11. ^ Chris Brunt strike secures title for West Brom - Football News - Telegraph
  12. ^ "Brunt wants winner's medal", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2008-05-03. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  13. ^ "Brunt: "We did it for the fans"", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2008-05-05. Retrieved on 2008-05-05. 
  14. ^ Chris Brunt | West Bromwich Albion | News | Pick a Number | Pick a Number

[edit] External links

v • d • e
West Bromwich Albion F.C. – current squad

1 Kiely • 2 Hoefkens • 3 Robinson • 4 Barnett • 5 Clement • 7 Koren • 8 Greening • 9 Bednář • 10 Beattie • 11 Gera • 12 Kim • 14 Albrechtsen • 15 MacDonald • 16 Hodgkiss • 17 Miller • 18 Martis • 19 Daněk • 20 Teixeira • 21 Phillips • 22 Nicholson • 23 Tininho • 24 Moore • 26 Pelé • 27 Morrison • 29 Brunt • 30 Ślusarski • 31 Daniels • 32 Worrall • Manager: Mowbray


Persondata
NAME Brunt, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast, Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH