Richard Brush (born 26 November 1984) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Irish side

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

Club career

Early career (2003–2006)

Brush started his career with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

where after one year as an apprentice, he signed a three-year professional contract. Whilst at the club went out on loan to Tamworth in November 2003 with his loan spell being extended into a second, and then a third month. His time at Coventry included a wrist injury, which led to him missing an entire season. He moved to a month by month contract in June 2005, before parting ways with Coventry at the end of August 2005 when his contract expired. He joined Shrewsbury Town, where he served as backup to a young Joe Hart. He played for the club's reserves and remained with the club, still without a contract. In September 2005 he played for

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

and in November 2005 he turned out for

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

making four appearances including making his debut in an FA Cup first round match against Histon. He left Shrewsbury in January 2006. and next joined

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

Sligo Rovers

First spell (2006–2011)

Brush's next move was to League of Ireland club

where he made his League of Ireland debut against Shelbourne on 28 July 2006. He stayed with the club until 2011. At Sligo, he broke his wrist.

Second spell (2012–2013)

Brush returned to Sligo in January 2012.

Third spell (2014–2016)

Brush signed back for the third time for the 2014 season. These were difficult seasons for Sligo as their golden period was ending, despite a

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

win in 2014. At the end of the 2015 campaign, Brush departed the club again.

Fourth spell (2021–present)

On 1 February 2021, Brush signed again for Sligo Rovers.

Shamrock Rovers

First spell (2011–2012)

Brush was signed by

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

on 21 July 2011. He made his Rovers debut on 3 September 2011 against Dundalk helping them to a 2–1 victory. He made two appearances in the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

as Rovers became the first Irish side to reach a European competition group stage.

Second spell (2013–2014)

Brush signed back for The Hoops in December 2012.

Finn Harps (2016–2017)

In January 2016, Brush started training with newly promoted

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

with a view to signing for the 2016 season. After joining the Ballybofey-based club, he made 19 league appearances.

Ballinamallard United (2017–2018)

In January 2017, Brush signed for

Ballinamallard United Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Ferma ...

on a free transfer taking the shirt number 30. He made his first appearance in the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

against Warrenpoint Town.

Cliftonville (2018–2021)

Brush signed for Cliftonville in July 2018, and played his first official match for the side on 4 August 2018 in a 2–1 win against

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

at the Oval.

Personal life

In November 2018, he suffered a stroke while driving.

Honours

;Sligo Rovers *

(1):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

(1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* League of Ireland Cup (1):

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Shamrock Rovers *

(1):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

* League of Ireland Cup (1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(1):

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brush, Richard Living people 1984 births English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Coventry City F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players National League (English football) players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Hednesford Town F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. players Ballinamallard United F.C. players