Ethan Craig Brierley (born 23 November 2003) 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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Early life

Brierley was born in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Career

Having supported

from the age of three and progressed through the club's academy, Brierley was named on Rochdale's bench for a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in January 2020, at the age of 15. Because of his age, Brierley had to get changed separately to the rest of

's first team. He made his professional debut for Rochdale on 5 September 2020 in a 1–0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

victory away to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. He signed his first professional contract with the club on 26 November 2020, having turned 17 earlier that week. On 24 March 2022, Brierley joined

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. On 29 April 2022, Brierley was recalled from this loan spell by parent club Rochdale. On 2 June 2023, it was confirmed that Brierley had signed for

for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.

Career statistics

References

2003 births Living people Footballers from Rochdale English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Rochdale A.F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players {{England-footy-midfielder-2000s-stub