Conor Branson (born 14 November 1991) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Farsley Celtic Farsley Celtic Football Club is a football club based in Farsley, West Yorkshire, England. The club was founded in 1908, but folded in 2010 and were reformed as Farsley AFC before returning to the name Farsley Celtic in 2015.

. He has also spent time coaching and holds a

UEFA B Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of managers/ coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for football in Europe mandates several licences, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro ...

qualification.

Playing career

Youth and college

Branson was a first-year scholar at

Barnsley F.C. Barnsley Football Club is a professional football club in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of English football. Nicknamed "the Colliers", they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Pree ...

in 2009. After captaining the academy in 2009, he was promoted to the first team in 2010 on a 1-year contract. About Branson, Barnsley manager Nick Daws said, "Conor has done really well as the captain of the academy. He is a leader, a talker and an organizer. He needs to work on his game like everyone does but he is a real prospect." During the 2010/11 Championship season, he was on the bench for three first team matches but did not make an appearance. He was released by Barnsley, along with four other players, in November 2011. Upon his release from Barnsley he played for, and captained, the

Nike Football Academy The Nike Football Academy was an English Youth system, football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. T ...

team in 2011/12. Following that season, he moved to the United States to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the Golden Eagles of the

University of Charleston The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as the Barboursville Semin ...

. Over his three seasons with the team, he tallied 18 goals in 64 appearances. In 2014 and 2015 he was named Defensive Player of the Year for the

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, m ...

and led the Golden Eagles to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

national semifinals in his last season. In 2015 and 2015 he also helped lead the team to league titles while being named an Academic All-American those seasons.

Professional

Branson played for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

of the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

, the sixth tear of English football, during the 2011/12 season. He stayed with the club until September 2012 when he began attending the

. In total he made eight appearances for the club. After college, Branson had trials with

DC United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppor ...

and

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

, both of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. In March 2016 it was announced that Branson had signed for the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

of the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

a few days before the opening match of the

2016 USL season The 2016 USL season was the sixth season of the United Soccer League and the twenty-second season of USSF sanctioned Division III play organized by the United Soccer Leagues. On August 6, 2015, the league announced that the season would cons ...

. He made his debut for the club on 2 April in the team's opening match to the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Michael Green. It was announced that Branson and the club mutually parted ways in August 2016 after making 14 appearances and scoring one goal for the club. In the summer of 2018, he returned to the UK and joined

side

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. Branson finished his first season with the club with twelve goals and was named as the club's Manager's Player of the Year. On 19 June 2019, Branson left Bradford to join

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. In May 2023, Branson signed for

after four seasons with

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

Coaching career

Branson left Pittsburgh return to the University of Charleston as an assistant coach. He then had a spell coaching at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

for the 2017 season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Branson, Conor 1991 births Living people English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States USL Championship players Barnsley F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Nike Academy players Men's association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players Charleston Golden Eagles men's soccer coaches Charleston Golden Eagles men's soccer players Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer coaches Footballers from Pontefract 21st-century English sportsmen