Paul Brayson (born 16 September 1977) 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 for Newcastle Benfield as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, Brayson started his career with

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 ...

before moving to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

. He signed for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in March 1998 for a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

of £100,000. He joined

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on loan in 2000. He then moved

on a free transfer in 2000. He moved to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

in July 2002. He was released at the end of 2003–04 season. He had a trial at

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

in July 2004, but manager

Chris Brass Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest F.C., Notti ...

decided not to give him a contract. He dropped out of

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

when he moved to

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

in August 2004. This allowed him to play part-time for Cheshire club while running a taxi business in his native

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. He joined

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on loan in March 2005. He was back at Northwich for the 2005–06 season, where he scored 32 goals in 51 appearances in

Conference 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 ...

. He participated in a fine

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 ...

run with Northwich, before being knocked out by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. During that FA Cup run, Brayson won the FA Player of the Round twice, becoming the first player to do so. He was regarded as a fans favourite with the Northwich supporters. Brayson was signed by York City on 25 June 2007. He was believed to have turned down a loan move to Gateshead in January 2008. He made 22 appearances in the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

for York, scoring four goals, prior to being released on 30 January 2008. He signed for

on 31 January. The end of the 2007–08 season saw Brayson offered a new contract by

. At the same time

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

made him a lucrative offer to drop down two leagues and play for them. On 2 June 2008 Brayson was released by Gateshead having failed to agree to the new contract by a set deadline. Upon his release by Gateshead, Brayson accepted the contract on offer from

. He left to join Durham City in June 2009 before signing for

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

in August 2009. In his first season in the Conference North he finished the league's top goal scorer with 28 goals. In May 2010 he signed a new deal with

for season 2010/2011 and went on to win the golden boot. In August 2010 he was named team captain for season 2010/2011 and ended the campaign as the club's top goalscorer for a second successive season. In May 2011 he joined

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

In June 2012 he joined

Bedlington Terriers Bedlington Terriers Football Club is a football club based in Bedlington, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Welfare Park. History The club was established in 1949 as Bedlington Mechanics. They joined the Northumberlan ...

International career

Brayson was a late call-up for the England national C team to play in the Four Nations Tournament in May 2007, as a replacement for the injured

Matt Tubbs Matthew Stephen Tubbs (born 15 July 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bashley. Having started his football career, Tubbs joined Salisbury City and quickly made an impact throughout his time at the club, h ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

once, playing in a 3–0 win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 25 May 2007. England won the tournament, having been unbeaten and not conceded a goal in three matches.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brayson, Paul 1977 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Reading F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players York City F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Bedlington Terriers F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players