Brian Howard (footballer)

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Personal information
Brian Howard
Full name	Brian Howard
Date of birth	23 January 1983 (1983-01-23) (age 25)
Place of birth	Winchester, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Barnsley
Number	10
Youth clubs
1999-2001	Southampton
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2003 2003 2003–2005 2005–	Southampton Chelsea Swindon Town Barnsley	000 0(0) 000 0(0) 070 0(9) 114 (25)
National team²
	England U-20	001 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:01, 9 February 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 13:01, 9 February 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Brian Howard (born January 23, 1983 in Winchester, Hampshire) is an English football midfielder who currently plays for Barnsley and wears the number 10 jersey.

[edit] Playing career

Howard 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 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 in the Play-Off games, including the final against Swansea.

Howard was named Barnsley Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season, after scoring eight goals in the battle against relegation. He then signed a new contract extending his stay at Oakwell until 2009.

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."^[1] He scored a goal in the 90th minute when Barnsley dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup in February 2008.^[2] 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 March 26th, 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.

Brian Howard is expected to leave Barnsley with the front runners for his signature believed to be Wolves, but with a 10 million pound price tag the clubs are being cautious