Timothy Aston Bredbury (; born 25 April 1963) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and 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. Bredbury is a UEFA/AFC A-licensed coach.

Early life

Bredbury was born in Hong Kong to British parents from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. His father John moved to Hong Kong as a fireman working for the

Hong Kong Fire Services Department The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the pub ...

. He went to Glenealy School and King George V School. As a talented sportsman, he represented Hong Kong in

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

at the 1979 Rosslyn Park World Schools Sevens, as well as in

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

and swimming. He has three siblings who have also represented Hong Kong at field hockey and rugby.

Club career

Bredbury began his football career with

in 1979, signing as an apprentice professional. After two years, he was offered full professional terms on a one-year contract. Bredbury stayed at the Liverpool reserve team for three years, winning the Central League twice, the Liverpool Senior Cup and the Nice International Invitation Tournament in France. At the end of his contract, Bredbury was then approached by Ryoden. He decided to take the offer and return to Hong Kong. He scored 13 goals in 4 games and was soon signed up with Hong Kong league giants

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969. Seiko is ...

, playing alongside the likes of

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

Theo de Jong Theodorus Jacob de Jong (born 11 August 1947) is a Dutch former professional footballer and former football coach. During his career, he played for NEC Nijmegen and Feyenoord Rotterdam. He earned 15 caps and scored 3 goals for the Netherla ...

Dick Nanninga Dirk Jacobus Willem "Dick" Nanninga (17 January 1949 – 21 July 2015) was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward. At club level, he played for Dutch sides BV Veendam, Roda JC and MVV Maastricht. He also had a short spell with Hong Kong clu ...

René van de Kerkhof Reinier Lambertus "René" van de Kerkhof (; born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. Career Van de Kerkhof and his twin bro ...

Johnny Rep John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7. Playing career Rep played as a right-footed ...

, Peter Bodak and Benny Wendt in a highly successful 2-year period winning the league twice. Between 1982 and 1999, Bredbury played for various clubs in Hong Kong, such as

Hong Kong Rangers Hong Kong Rangers Football Club (), often abbreviated to Rangers, currently known as Biu Chun Rangers due to sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong professional football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. They have won ...

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

Lai Sun Lai Sun Group () is a Hong Kong conglomerate. It was founded by garment billionaire and entrepreneur, Lim Por-yen. Its businesses include property development, real estate investment, hotel, telecom, mass media and entertainment. Lai Sun is wor ...

Frankwell Frankwell is a district of the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England. It lies adjacent to the River Severn, to the northwest of the town centre, and is one of Shrewsbury's oldest suburbs. The main road running through the area is also call ...

, Sing Tao and Instant-Dict, as well as Australian club

Sydney Olympic FC Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...

and Malaysian clubs

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club ( Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor'') is a professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The club currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. ...

and

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club owned by the Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The club represents the state of Sabah in Borneo, and competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Thei ...

. Bredbury was the joint top goalscorer in Hong Kong on two separate occasions and finished tied (with Dale Tempest) in the

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the List of oldest football competitions, third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is ...

with 21 goals during the 1990–1991 season with Lai Sun FC before leaving Hong Kong and signing for Sydney Olympic in Australia. In his debut season, Bredbury also finished as joint top scorer (with Kimon Taliadoros) in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

with

during the 1991–1992 season scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances. Bredbury also had two successful seasons playing in Malaysia with giants Selangor FC and second division side Sabah FC. At Sabah, Bredbury helped the club reach the FA Cup Final, the first time a second division side had achieved this feat. At the club level, Bredbury played against top club sides from around the world, including

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

, Lucky Gold Star (now Seoul),

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, Everton,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

, Brøndby and Chelsea. In 1986, Bredbury was invited to join the Hong Kong national team and, in a career that spanned over 10 years, he played in the World Cup qualifying rounds, Olympics qualifying rounds and Asian Games in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He played over 30 representative games scoring 14 goals. Bredbury was also a regular member of the Hong Kong League XI side competing in the Carlsberg Cup and Dynasty Cup tournaments playing against such sides as Denmark, Paraguay (where he was "Man of the Match"), Yugoslavia, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Sweden, Romania, Switzerland, China. In addition to his professional playing career, Bredbury is also a fully qualified English Football Association coach and gained his UEFA A Licence in December 2011 through the English Football Association. In 2016, he also received recognition through the AFC and now holds the equivalent license. Bredbury is a member of the English Football Association Coaches Association and also a former member of the English Professional Footballers Association.

Post-playing career

Bredbury worked as a marketing manager, professional coach, sports journalist, event organiser and television presenter on ATV's World channel.

Managerial career

On 30 June 2024, Brebdury was appointed as the head coach of

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

* 7

* 1

Hong Kong Second Division League Hong Kong Second Division League () is the third level of association football, football league in Hong Kong founded in 1909. The top two teams are promoted to the Hong Kong First Division League, Hong Kong First Division. Competition format ...

* 2

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only teams that play in the Hong K ...

* 4

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

* 5

Hong Kong Viceroy Cup Hong Kong Viceroy Cup () was a football competition in Hong Kong held by British American Tobacco. Started in 1969, it was the first football competition in Hong Kong which allowed commercial sponsorship. Together with First Division League, FA ...

* 2

Lunar New Year Cup The Lunar New Year Cup, previously known as the Carlsberg Challenge or the Carlsberg Cup, is an annual invitational association football, football tournament organised in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) since 1908. It is usua ...

* 3 Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup * 1 Hong Kong Junior Viceroy Cup * 2 Central League Champions - UK * 1 Liverpool Senior Cup Champions - UK * 1 Nice Invitation Cup Champions - Fra * 2 Seven a Side Champions - HK * 3 Top Goal Scorer - HK * 1 NSL Joint Top Goalscorer - Aust

References

External links

Tim Bredbury NSL career profile
*
Tim Bradbury Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bredbury, Tim 1963 births Living people Hong Kong people of British descent Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong football managers Hong Kong men's international footballers Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Hong Kong First Division League players Double Flower FA players Liverpool F.C. players South China AA players Seiko SA players Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Sydney Olympic FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Selangor F.C. players Hong Kong expatriates in Australia Alumni of King George V School, Hong Kong Men's association football forwards Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Hong Kong Tai Po FC managers