Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

Personal information
Full name	James Gerald Brennan
Date of birth	May 8, 1977 (1977-05-08) (age 32)
Place of birth	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	defender
Club information
Current club	Toronto FC
Number	11
Youth career
1994–1996	Sora Lazio
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–1999	Bristol City	55	(3)
1999–2003	Nottingham Forest	123	(1)
2001	→ Huddersfield Town (loan)	2	(0)
2003–2006	Norwich City	43	(1)
2006	Southampton	14	(0)
2007–	Toronto FC	83	(4)
National team‡
1999–2008	Canada	49	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 November 2009

Jim Brennan (born May 8, 1977 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.

Club career

Bristol City

A left-sided defender who also has played the left side of the midfield, Brennan grew up in Newmarket, Ontario, and started playing professionally in 1996 with Bristol City on a free transfer in the Football League Second Division. In 64 first-team appearances for City over four seasons, Brennan scored three goals.

Nottingham Forest

Brennan joined Nottingham Forest for £1.5 million in October 1999. In 146 games played with Forest over four seasons, Brennan scored just once. He also came on as a substitute in two league games while on loan to Huddersfield Town in 2000-01.

Norwich City

Brennan joined Norwich City on a free Bosman transfer in 2003. During the 2003-04 season in Division One of the Football League, Brennan scored twice in just nine appearances, as he battled an abductor muscle injury. Despite his personal struggles with fitness, the season saw Norwich win the First Division title and promotion back to the Premiership.

Southampton

Brennan was transferred to Southampton on 27 January 2006 with his contract due to expire in summer having failed to make an impact on the Norwich first team. However, following the expiration of his Southampton contract he was released by the club the following May.

Toronto FC

On September 8, 2006, Brennan signed with MLS team Toronto FC for the 2007 season, becoming the first player in club history.^[1] He also became the first Canadian to score for Toronto FC, registering a goal off a free kick against the Columbus Crew on 26 May, 2007. This goal subsequently became a Sierra Mist Goal of the Week. Brennan went on to play 27 games, all of them starts, for Toronto FC, the most of any player. He earned a reputation as Toronto's "Iron Man," as he managed to play many of his games despite a rib injury, and looked as though he would go on to play every match of the season. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented Brennan from achieving this feat. Brennan retained the captaincy for the 2008 season, and nearly managed to score in his team's opening match. Brennan has since added goals in 2008 against Chivas USA in Carson, California and to open the 2009 season at Kansas City, off pass from newly acquired Canadian international teammate Dwayne De Rosario.

Brennan also made an appearance during the 2008 MLS All-Star game in his home stadium, BMO Field. The MLS All-Stars won the game 3-2 against West Ham United.

International career

Brennan played at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Japan, in a team alongside Paul Stalteri and Jason Bent. He then made his senior debut for Canada in an April 1999 friendly match against Northern Ireland and went on to earn a total of 49 caps, scoring 6 goals.^[2] He has represented Canada in 10 FIFA World Cup qualification matches^[3]. He has played for Canada at the Confederations Cup 2001 and at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

International Goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	September 2, 1999	Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Jamaica	1–0	1–0	Friendly match
2	October 9, 2000	Winnipeg Soccer Complex, Winnipeg, Canada	Panama	1–0	1–0	2002 World Cup Qualification
3	February 12, 2003	June 11 Stadium, Tripoli, Libya	Libya	2–1	4–2	Friendly match
4	June 13, 2004	Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston, Canada	Belize	4–0	4–0	2006 World Cup Qualification
5	June 16, 2004	Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston, Canada	Belize	4–0	4–0	2006 World Cup Qualification
6	March 1, 2006	Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna, Austria	Austria	1–0	2–0	Friendly

Honours

Canada

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 1

2000

Club

Norwich City

• Football League First Division: 1

2004

Toronto FC

• Canadian Championship: 1

2009

Individual

• Toronto FC Player of the Year: 1

2007 (co-winner)

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• Official Website
• MLS player profile
• CanadaSoccer.com with a national team member profile page for Brennan
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Jim Brennan career stats at Soccerbase
• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
• 2007 U-Sector TFC Player of the Year - Jim Brennan
• Career stats - National Football Teams

v • d • e Canada squad – 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Forrest • 2 Fenwick • 3 Fletcher • 4 Menezes • 5 de Vos • 6 Aristodemo • 7 Stalteri • 8 Dasovic • 9 Corazzin • 10 Xuasa • 11 Brennan • 12 Clarke • 13 Watson • 14 Bent • 15 Hastings • 16 Kusch • 17 Peschisolido • 18 Thomas • 21 Nash • 22 Onstad • 24 De Rosario • Coach: Osieck

v • d • e Canada squad – 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Forrest • 2 Clarke • 3 Watson • 4 Menezes • 5 de Vos • 6 Bent • 7 Stalteri • 8 Dasovic • 9 Corazzin • 10 Xausa • 11 Brennan • 12 Onstad • 13 Fletcher • 14 Imhof • 15 Hastings • 16 Kusch • 17 de Rosario • 18 Nsaliwa • 19 Peschisolido • 20 McKenna • 21 Bircham • 22 Franks • Coach: Osieck

v • d • e Canada squad – 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Hirschfeld • 3 Rogers • 4 Menezes • 5 de Vos • 6 Bent • 7 Stalteri • 8 Dasovic • 10 Xausa • 11 Brennan • 13 Fletcher • 14 Imhof • 15 Hastings • 16 de Guzman • 17 De Rosario • 18 Nsaliwa • 19 Pozniak • 20 McKenna • 23 Stamatopoulos • Coach: Osieck

v • d • e Canada squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Sutton • 2 Braz • 3 Pozniak • 4 McKenna • 5 Gervais • 6 Bernier • 7 Hume • 8 Serioux • 9 Gerba • 10 Occean • 11 Brennan • 12 Grande • 13 Hutchinson • 14 De Rosario • 15 Simpson • 16 Leduc • 17 Peters • 18 Dodds • 19 Franks • Coach: Yallop