727 Tony Brien

Biography

Experienced Irish centre back Tony Brien was signed by Terry Dolan in July 1996 to shore up the defence of a side struggling in the fourth tier. Signed from West Bromwich Albion, Brien was clearly able to play at a higher level but was short on pace and fitness thanks to a chronic hip injury acquired earlier in his career. Brien was a first team regular in his first season under Dolan and scored his only goal for the Tigers in October 1996 at Leyton Orient. In his second season Dolan was replaced by Mark Hateley and the former England international used Tony until City suffered a November thumping at the hands of Shrewsbury Town, at which point new signing Matt Hocking was preferred in a central defensive role. Brien left the Tigers in January 1988, quitting the professional game due to an arthritic hip.

Born in Dublin, Anthony James “Tony” Brien grew up in the West Midlands and played in Birmingham Boys’ League. He was an Ireland youth international when he joined Second Division side Leicester City as a teenage apprentice. He broke into the Foxes’ reserve side in October 1985 and made his senior debut for the Filbert Street side in late September 1987 against Ipswich Town, scoring his only goal for the club in January 1988 against Crystal Palace. He played irregularly for Leicester during the next year and had made 21 senior appearances and scored one goal when he moved to Division Three side Chesterfield in December 1988 for a steepling £90,000 fee. Tony was installed immediately at the heart of Chesterfield’s first team defence and while he was unable to do enough to avoid the Spireites being relegated in May 1989, he remained with the club for four more seasons in the fourth tier of the English game, playing in the side that reached the Division 4 playoff final in May 1990 only to lose at Wembley to Cambridge United – this was the first single-leg play-off final to be played at the national stadium. By October 1993 Brien had scored eight goals in 240 senior appearances when he transferred to Rotherham United, a club playing a level higher than Chesterfield in League Division 2.

Tony’s spent two seasons at Millmoor and scored two goals for the Millers in 55 appearances, despite missing much of the latter half of the 1994/95 season due to injury. Out of contract in the summer of 1995, Brien had a trial at Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday that saw him play in one senior fixture, a June 1995 Inter-Toto Cup tie against Swiss side FC Basel, but in July 1995 he joined League Division 1 side West Bromwich Albion. Unable to make an impression at The Hawthorns, Brien made only 4 senior appearances for the Baggies before spending February and early March on loan at League Division 3 side Mansfield Town (4 appearances) then spending the last two months at rivals League Division 3 side Chester City where Tony added a further 8 appearances. He left West Bromwich Albion in the 1996 close season and signed for Hull City.

Hull City was Tony’s final league club, he retired from the professional scene in January 1998 due to an arthritic hip. He later joined non-league side Stalybridge Celtic and played at that level for another two years. He worked for a beer distribution company and ran a bar in Majorca before settling in Hull and working as a driver, a salesman and a pub manager. In 2021 he returned to the Midlands and managed a pub in Kidderminster before suffering from ill health. In August 2023 Tony died at 54 years of age.

In 2017 Brien revealed that from the age of 12 he had been subject to sexual abuse by convicted sex offender Ted Langford, a coach at Leicester City’s feeder club Dunlop Terriers. It was also claimed that in 1988 former England and Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor, who employed Langford, had advised Brien to not report the allegations.

Details

Nationality: Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 10 February 1969, Dublin
Hull City First Game: 17 August 1996, Darlington H (League Division 3), 27 years, 189 days old
Hull City Final Game: 8 November 1997, Shrewsbury Town H (League Division 3), 28 years, 271 days old

Clubs

Leicester City (1985-1988), Chesterfield (1988-1993), Rotherham United (1993-1995), Sheffield Wednesday (1995), West Bromwich Albion (1995-1996), Mansfield Town (1996), Chester City (1996), Hull City (1996-1998), Stalybridge Celtic (1998), Bromsgrove Rovers (1999), Stourbridge (1999), Alfreton Town (1999-2000), Staveley Miners Welfare (2000)

Hull City Record

Career: 59 apps, 1 goals

Tony Brien
SeasonLGE
App
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Gls
FAC
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FLC
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EUR
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OTH
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OTH
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1996/9729 (3)13 (0)02 (0)02 (0)0
1997/9814 (1)05 (0)0

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