Drewe Oliver Broughton (born 25 October 1978) is an English former professional
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 played as a
striker. He made over 540 senior appearances for 21 different clubs, scoring 116 goals, in a career spanning 17 years.
Career
Earlier years
Broughton was born in
Hitchin
Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
.
He began his career as a trainee with
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
in 1996, where he made nine appearances scoring once against
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
, and had a one-month loan spell at
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
, in two seasons.
He joined
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
in October 1998 for a transfer fee of £100,000 and was sold within a month for the same fee to
Peterborough United.
He stayed at Peterborough for just over two years, making 35 league appearances and scoring eight goals.
Kidderminster
After spells on loan at non-League
Nuneaton Borough,
Dagenham & Redbridge and
Stevenage Borough during the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons, Broughton joined
Kidderminster Harriers on a one-month loan in January 2001 and then joined Kidderminster on a permanent basis in February 2001.
He made over 100 league appearances for Kidderminster, scoring 19 goals,
before joining
Southend United in June 2003 on a two-year contract after being released by Kidderminster on a free transfer.
Southend, Rushden and Chester
At Southend, he proved a success in their run in the
2003–04 Football League Trophy. With Broughton scoring once against
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...
and twice against
QPR in earlier rounds, Southend faced Essex rivals
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
in the Area Final. In the first leg, he scored but was later sent off as the Shrimpers won 3–2. In the second leg, Broughton scored the winning aggregate goal, his fifth of the competition that season, to put Southend United in to the first National Final of their then 98-year history. Broughton played the full 90 minutes as they lost the overall
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
to
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
. However overall he did not feature regularly in the first team at Southend and joined
Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...
on loan in October 2004,
where he scored five goals in ten appearances,
and then
Wycombe Wanderers,
before joining
Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...
permanently in February 2005,
where he made 51 appearances in all competitions in two seasons.
Despite Broughton scoring ten goals in the 2005–06 season,
Rushden were relegated to the
Conference National
The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...
following their defeat at
Boston United in April 2006.
Broughton joined
Chester City on a two-year contract in June 2006.
He made only 14 league appearances for Chester,
and in October 2006, he joined
Boston United on loan in October 2006 for the rest of the 2006–07 season,
where he scored eight goals in 25 league appearances,
but was unable to prevent Boston from being relegated from the Football League.
Milton Keynes Dons
Broughton was released by Chester upon his return, and joined
Milton Keynes Dons in July 2007 after impressing during a one-week trial at the club.
He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for the club against
Sheffield United in the
League Cup. After starting just six times for MK Dons, he joined
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
on a one-month loan in January 2008. When his loan spell ended, he played in their
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
semi final win over
Swansea City in February 2008 and scored the final penalty in a 5–4 penalty shootout that sent them to Wembley for the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
,
which his teammates went on to win in his absence. He then returned to Wrexham for a second loan spell,
and scored two goals in 16 appearances for Wrexham before being released in April 2008.
He was also released by MK Dons at the end of the 2007–08 season.
Broughton joined
Rotherham United on a short-term contract in August 2008.
This was then extended to a one-year contract. He got his first
Rotherham United goal in the 3–1 victory over Championship side
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
.
Lincoln City
After a loan spell during the 09/10 season with
Lincoln City, Broughton joined permanently in June 2010. On 18 February 2011 Broughton signed on loan for
Conference National
The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...
club
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in ...
, causing some controversy due to his time spent with
Milton Keynes Dons. On 19 February, Broughton scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute in a 5–2 away victory against
Tamworth. His second goal for the club came a week later in a 4–1 home victory over
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 ...
. He was recalled by Lincoln on 1 April due to injuries to strikers
Delroy Facey
Delroy Michael Facey (born 22 April 1980) is a British- Grenadian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Facey played for Huddersfield Town, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City, Oldham At ...
and
Ashley Grimes
In May 2011, he was not offered a new contract after a mass clear out of players following the club's relegation from
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
.
After being released, Broughton went on trial at
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...
scoring two goals in a 4–2 victory over
Hitchin Town in a pre-season friendly.
Return to non-League
On 8 September 2011, he joined
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 ...
as a free agent, having been without a club since being released by Lincoln City. He had shaken off a minor hamstring injury which saw him have to be substituted during two run-outs in pre-season friendlies with Alfreton (against Sheffield United and Matlock Town).
He debuted for the club in their 3–1
Conference
A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
defeat at his former club
Kidderminster Harriers on 17 September 2011, scoring a 31st-minute penalty before attracting attention for an alleged elbow on
Luke Jones. The incident was missed by the match referee but not by the referee's assessor who later requested a copy of the matchday DVD from
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 ...
and, upon reviewing the incident, reported Broughton to
the Football Association
The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
who took immediate action and banned him for three games. He returned from suspension to appear in the 5–2 defeat at
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
on 1 October 2011 but was sent-off for elbowing
Gary Silk in the 86th minute. After being handed a four match ban for the offence, Broughton was sacked by the club on 5 October 2011, with Alfreton chairman Wayne Bradley commenting that "the actions of Drewe Broughton on Saturday were wholly unacceptable and the club has made a decision to sever relationships with the player. He was a non-contract player and, while we understand his disappointment with himself and his pleas that it was completely out of character for him, we have made our decision and he has kicked his last ball for Alfreton Town".
On 21 October 2011, it was announced that he had signed for
Thurrock
Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...
.
He moved on to
Arlesey Town of the
Southern League Premier Division
The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and e ...
, making his debut on 28 January 2012. Broughton scored his first goal for Arlesey in a home match against
St Albans City on 18 February 2012, giving Arlesey an 18th-minute lead in a 1–1 draw.
Moving on in March 2012, Broughton signed for
Conference National
The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...
club
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
and made his league debut for the financially troubled side, who were battling relegation after receiving a 10-point deduction having entered administration mid-season, at home to
Stockport County on 3 March 2012. He scored his first goal for the club on his sixth appearance, a 3–3 away draw at
AFC Telford United on 31 March 2012.
Career statistics
*Correct as at 01:17, 1 April 2012.
Honours
Southend United
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
runner-up:
2003–04
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Drewe
1978 births
Living people
Footballers from Hitchin
English men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Norwich City F.C. players
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Nuneaton Town F.C. players
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players
Stevenage F.C. players
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
Southend United F.C. players
Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players
Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
Chester City F.C. players
Boston United F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
AFC Wimbledon players
Alfreton Town F.C. players
Thurrock F.C. players
Arlesey Town F.C. players
Darlington F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
People educated at Bedford School