Garry James Brooke (born 24 November 1960) is a former professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, FC Groningen, Wimbledon, Stoke City and Brentford before moving into non-league football.[1]

Garry Brooke
Personal information
Full name Garry James Brooke[1]
Date of birth (1960-11-24) 24 November 1960 (age 63)[2]
Place of birth Bethnal Green, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1985 Tottenham Hotspur 73 (15)
1979–1980GAIS (loan) 23 (8)
1985–1987 Norwich City 14 (2)
1987–1988 Groningen 39 (9)
1988–1990 Wimbledon 12 (0)
1990Stoke City (loan) 8 (0)
1990 Brentford 11 (1)
1990–1991 Baldock Town
1991 Colchester United 0 (0)
1991 Reading 4 (0)
1991 Wivenhoe Town 9 (4)
1991–1992 St Albans City 5 (0)
1992 Romford 1 (0)
Worthing
Cornard United
Braintree Town
Total 188 (38)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

Brooke was born in Bethnal Green and began his career with Tottenham Hotspur.[4] He spent a year on loan at Swedish side GAIS scoring eight goals in 23 appearances and made his Spurs debut in a 3–2 defeat against West Bromwich Albion.[4] His full debut came in a 4–4 draw with Southampton with Brooke scoring twice. His debut season ended with a substitute appearance in the 1981 FA Cup Final which saw Tottenham beat Manchester City in a replay.[4] His second season with Spurs saw the team again lift the FA Cup in a replay but Brooke's place in the side came under threat from Glenn Hoddle and Tony Galvin.[4] He played 33 times in the 1982–83 season scoring nine goals but his run in the side was cut short due to a near fatal car crash in February 1983.[5] It took him seven months to regain fitness and struggled to get back into the side due to his injuries causing him to be easily short of breath. He played in just seven matches in 1984–85 and was sold to Norwich City.[4]

He never settled at Norwich as he missed London and also did not get on with first team coach Mel Machin.[4] He helped Norwich win the Second Division title in 1985–86 but missed out on a medal as he played 13 matches, one short of the required 14.[4] After failing to get into the Norwich side in 1986–87 he decided to move to Dutch team Groningen. Brooke enjoyed his time at Groningen as he was given a free role by the manager Henk van Brussel.[4] He returned to England in August 1988 following the birth of his daughter and decided to sign for Wimbledon.[4] He regretted moving to Wimbledon as he didn't fit in with their direct style of play and moved on loan to Stoke City in March 1990 for the remainder of the 1989–90 season. He played eight matches for Stoke which saw the team draw and lose four matches and ended the season being relegated. He later had short spells with Brentford and Reading,[4] also playing in non-League for Baldock Town, Colchester United, Wivenhoe Town, St Albans City,[6] Romford,[7] Worthing, Cornard United and Braintree Town.[8]

Honours edit

Tottenham Hotspur

Career statistics edit

Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tottenham Hotspur 1978–79[10] First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1979–80[10] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1980–81[10] 18 3 7 1 0 0 25 4
1981–82[10] 16 4 2 0 0 0 18 4
1982–83[10] 23 7 2 0 4 1 4 1 33 9
1983–84[10] 12 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 18 0
1984–85[10] 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 7 1
Total 73 15 12 1 5 1 11 1 101 18
GAIS (loan) 1980[11] Swedish Division 2 23 8 23 8
Norwich City 1985–86[12] Second Division 13 2 0 0 2 1 3 1 18 4
1986–87[12] First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Total 14 2 0 0 2 1 4 1 20 4
Groningen 1986–87[13] Eredivisie 11 1 0 0 11 1
1987–88[13] 28 8 0 0 28 8
Total 39 9 0 0 39 9
Wimbledon 1988–89[12] First Division 10 0 0 0 2 0 12 0
1989–90[12] 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 12 0 0 0 2 0 14 0
Stoke City (loan) 1989–90[12] Second Division 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Brentford 1990–91[14] Third Division 11 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 14 1
Colchester United 1990–91[15] Conference 0 0 1 0 1 0
Reading 1990–91[16] Third Division 4 0 4 0
St Albans City 1991–92[17] Isthmian League Premier Division 4 0 0 0 3 0 7 0
1992–93[18] 1 0 1 0 2 0 4 0
Total 5 0 1 0 5 0 11 0
Career Total 189 35 14 1 11 2 21 2 235 40
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Full Members Cup, Screen Sport Super Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, FA Trophy, Conference League Cup, Isthmian League Cup, Herts Charity Cup and East Anglian Cup.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Hugman, B, J, (Ed) The PFA Premier& Football League Players' Records (2005) p83 ISBN 1-85291-665-6
  2. ^ "Garry Brooke". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  3. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Coxon, Dave (2010). Stoke City F.C. matchday magazine. Stoke City F.C.
  5. ^ Garry Brooke fact-file Retrieved 3 April 2009
  6. ^ Garry Brookes Saints Statistics
  7. ^ Garry Brooke Romford Archive
  8. ^ Garry Brooke Historical Dons
  9. ^ "Tottenham v Bayern game report". UEFA. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Garry Brooke". 11v11.com. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Historik 1980". gais.nu. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e Garry Brooke at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  13. ^ a b Garry Brooke at WorldFootball.net
  14. ^ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 476. ISBN 9781906796723.
  15. ^ "Player Match List – Colchester United". www.coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Reading 1990–91". www.royalsrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  17. ^ generator, metatags. "St Albans City F.C. Statistics". saintsstatistics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  18. ^ generator, metatags. "St Albans City F.C. Statistics". saintsstatistics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2017.

External links edit