Brian Howard

Personal information
Full name	Brian Richard William Howard
Date of birth	23 January 1983 (1983-01-23) (age 26)
Place of birth	Winchester, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Reading
Number	34
Youth career
1999–2001	Southampton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2003	Southampton	0	(0)
2003–2005	Swindon Town	70	(9)
2005–2009	Barnsley	121	(27)
2008–2009	→ Sheffield United (loan)	15	(1)
2009	Sheffield United	15	(1)
2009–	Reading	13	(1)
National team‡
	England U20	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:01, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Brian Richard William Howard (born 23 January 1983) is an English footballer who plays for Reading in the Football League Championship as a midfielder. He is also a former England U20 international.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Southampton 1.2 Barnsley 1.3 Sheffield United 1.4 Reading 2 International career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Southampton

Howard started his career as a trainee with Southampton but didn't make a full appearance before he signed for Swindon Town in 2003, where he made his debut on 9 August 2003 against Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday won the game 3-2.

[edit] Barnsley

He 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 City.

He was named Barnsley player of the year for the 2006–07 season.

He 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."^[1]

Howard scored a goal in the 90th minute when Barnsley dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup in February 2008.^[2] Barnsley then knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup. At the end of the same season, Howard was named in the Championship Team of the Season for his contributions.

[edit] Sheffield United

On 2 October 2008, Howard joined Sheffield United on loan until January 2009, with an option to purchase at that time.^[3] He made his debut a couple of days later, appearing as a second half substitute in a 3-0 home victory over Bristol City.^[4]

Howard played regularly in the Blades midfield from that point but had to wait until 9 December before he scored his first goal, netting the winner in a 1–0 away win over Nottingham Forest.^[5] He joined United permanently on 7 January 2009.^[6]

[edit] Reading

On 2 September 2009 Howard signed for Reading on a three-year contract for a fee of £500,000, with James Harper going the other way on loan.^[7][8]

He scored his first goal for Reading FC against Queens Parks Rangers which Reading lost 4-1. ^[9] On 27th November Howard was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken jaw, sustained when he was defending a corner in the defeat to Derby County. Two days later he under went surgery to have metal plates incerted in his jaw, and will be out for serverl months.

[edit] International career

Howard was called up by Scotland national football team manager George Burley for their friendly match against Croatia on 26 March 2008, through his father being from Scotland; however he was deemed ineligible by FIFA as he had not registered his availability by age 21. Despite subsequently trying to overturn this decision FIFA have refused to allow him to represent Scotland.^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Brian Howard profile at barnsleyfc.co.uk
• Brian Howard career stats at Soccerbase

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Persondata
NAME	Howard, Brian Richard William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	23 January 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH	Winchester, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH