Ian Breckin (born 24 July 1975) 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 ...

. He is now head coach at Wickersley Wanderers.

Playing career

Early career

Born on 24 July 1975, in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, Breckin started his career with his hometown club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

as a trainee, before signing pro in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He made over 130 appearances for them and scored six goals. He was then sold to Chesterfield for £100,000 in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. He spent five years at Saltergate, making over 200 appearances. He moved to

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 ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and became a key player in the side that won promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. During his time at the club he became a fans favourite for his passionate performances and outstanding defending, earning him the nickname "Breckinbauer" (a reference to German footballer

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

Nottingham Forest

He never got the chance to play in the Premier League and instead signed for League One side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, in a £350,000 deal, with his teammate

Nicky Eaden Nicholas Jeremy Eaden (born 12 December 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is a senior professional development coach at EFL League One side Barnsley. As a player he was as a full-back who accumulated 55 ...

joining him on a free transfer. He never scored in a Wigan shirt but he was the top scorer for Nottingham Forest as he reached the target he set with 10 goals. Shortly after he arrived at the

City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...

he was made team captain, after

Gareth Taylor Gareth Keith Taylor (born 25 February 1973) is a football manager and former player who most recently served as the head coach of Manchester City Women. He began his career as a defender at Bristol Rovers, having left the Southampton youth t ...

put in a string of poor performances and was dropped from the first team. He made more appearances for Forest than any other player in the 2005–06 season. Breckin has been solid at the centre of defence while pairing up with

Wes Morgan Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a Centre Back, centre-back. Born in England, he played for the Jamaica national football team, Jamaica national team. He was als ...

and was the most consistent performer for Forest in the 2005–06 season, scoring a total of ten goals. At the end of April 2006, he was crowned Nottingham Forest's Player of the Year, receiving 42% of the votes from Forest fans. He also won the

Football League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the English football league system, third tier of English football. Originally nam ...

for April. Breckin missed the start of the 2007–08 campaign with an injury after two years playing in every Forest league game. But he recovered and was recalled to the first-team following the injury of Wes Morgan and helped Forest into second spot at Christmas and scored his first goal of the season in Forest's 4–1 home win against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. Breckin made his 100th Forest league appearance in their 2–0 victory against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, but was then dropped to the bench in favour of Wes Morgan, only making a handful of starts and coming off the bench often towards the end of the season. He did however help Forest keep a league record of 24 clean sheets in the 2007–08 season, helping them secure promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. Breckin's contract with Nottingham Forest was due to end in the summer of 2009, but in December 2008 he was transfer-listed by the club. After manager

Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a centre-back who played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa and in the Football League for Mansfi ...

was sacked however, Breckin put in impressive performances under

John Pemberton John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. On May 8, 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later ...

and

Billy Davies William McIntosh Davies (born 31 May 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager. He won the 2007 Play-offs with Derby County, finished as runners-up in 2005 with Preston North End, and reached the semi-finals in 2006 (Prest ...

, and after the 2–0 home win to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

he was removed from the transfer list. However, Billy Davies stated on the club's official website that Breckin would play his last game for Nottingham Forest in the club's end of season finale against

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, ...

, as he would not be renewing Breckin's contract. Breckin was given a standing ovation following the

game, which

, won 3–1.

Chesterfield

Breckin rejoined Chesterfield on 25 June 2009 and was appointed club captain. Breckin was released from Chesterfield at the end of the 2010–11 season, and on retirement joined Wickersley Wanderers, a Rotherham-based children's football club, as head coach.

Personal life

Breckin's son, Kian, is also a professional footballer and has progressed through

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, having first joined the club in 2015. On 11 July 2023, Kian joined League One club

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on loan. Ian also has a daughter, Ava, who is travelling around the globe in a different sport, cheerleading.

Honours

Rotherham 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 ...

: 1995–96 Wigan Athletic *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 2002–03 *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

runner-up: 2004–05 Nottingham Forest *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

runner-up: 2007–08 Chesterfield *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2006–07 Football League One *

: April 2006

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breckin, Ian 1975 births Living people Footballers from Rotherham English men's footballers Rotherham United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Men's association football defenders English Football League players