Gary Breen

2025-09-17T05:04:13Z

50.145.61.2: article is densely referenced

{{Short description|Ireland international footballer (born 1973)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Gary Breen
| image =
| caption =
| fullname = Gary Patrick Breen
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|12|12|df=y}}<ref name="NotW9697"/>
| birth_place = [[Hendon]], London, England
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=2}}<ref name="NotW9697">{{cite book |editor-last=Sewell |editor-first=Albert |title=News of the World Football Annual 1996–97 |publisher=Invincible Press |location=London |date=1996 |page=401 |isbn=978-0-00-218737-4}}</ref>
| position = [[Centre back]]
| currentclub =
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| years1 = 1990–1991
| clubs1 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| caps1 = 0
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 1991–1992
| clubs2 = [[Maidstone United F.C. (1897)|Maidstone United]]
| caps2 = 19
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 1992–1994
| clubs3 = [[Gillingham F.C.|Gillingham]]
| caps3 = 51
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 1994–1996
| clubs4 = [[Peterborough United F.C.|Peterborough United]]
| caps4 = 69
| goals4 = 1
| years5 = 1996–1997
| clubs5 = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]
| caps5 = 40
| goals5 = 2
| years6 = 1997–2002
| clubs6 = [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]]
| caps6 = 146
| goals6 = 2
| years7 = 2002–2003
| clubs7 = [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]]
| caps7 = 14
| goals7 = 0
| years8 = 2003–2006
| clubs8 = [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]]
| caps8 = 107
| goals8 = 7
| years9 = 2006–2008
| clubs9 = [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]]
| caps9 = 59
| goals9 = 1
| years10 = 2008–2010
| clubs10 = [[Barnet F.C.|Barnet]]
| caps10 = 47
| goals10 = 0
| totalcaps = 552
| totalgoals = 13
| nationalyears1 = 1996–2006
| nationalteam1 = [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]]
| nationalcaps1 = 63
| nationalgoals1 = 7
| nationalyears2 = 1992–1995
| nationalteam2 = [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21]]
| nationalcaps2 = 9
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| manageryears1 = 2009–2010
| managerclubs1 = [[Barnet F.C.|Barnet]] (assistant)
}}
'''Gary Patrick Breen''' (born 12 December 1973) is a former [[Association football|footballer]] who made more than 500 appearances in [[the Football League]] and [[Premier League]]. A [[centre back]], Breen played for numerous clubs over a 20-year career, including more than 100 appearances each for [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] and [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]]. Born in England, he won 63 caps for the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]]. He played in the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]], scoring in Ireland's 3–0 victory over [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]].

==Club career==
Breen was born in [[Hendon]], London, and began his professional career as a youth player at [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]], but never made a first-team appearance for the club. Instead, he moved to [[Maidstone United F.C. (1897)|Maidstone United]] where he played his first league game at age 17. After one full season with the club he joined [[Gillingham F.C.|Gillingham]] where he eventually became a first-team regular, prompting a £70,000 bid from [[Peterborough United F.C.|Peterborough United]].<ref name=pundit>[http://www.punditarena.com/football/english-football/jkeogh/now-gary-breen/ Where Are They Now? – Gary Breen, Pundit Arena ]</ref>

He only had one full season at Peterborough United, but did well enough to draw attention from [[Football League First Division|First Division]] [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]], who paid £250,000 for him in February 1996. Less than 12 months after arriving at Birmingham, he was on the move again, to [[Premier League]] [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] in a £2.5 million deal. He played for five full seasons at [[Highfield Road (stadium)|Highfield Road]], four in the top flight.<ref name=pundit/>

Following the 2002 World Cup, Breen was signed on a free transfer by [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] by manager [[Glenn Roeder]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=132A8FD7A73B1358&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=Roeder's ability persuades Breen to join West Ham |author=Pierson, Mark |newspaper=The Independent |date=30 July 2002 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref> but left the club after relegation from the top flight and only 18 appearances in all competitions.<ref name=WHU>{{cite web|url=http://www.westhamstats.info/westham.php?west=2&ham=767&united=Gary_Breen |title=Gary Breen |website=westhamstats.info |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref> He was signed on a free transfer by his old Ireland manager [[Mick McCarthy]] for [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]].<ref name=WHU/>

Breen was subsequently signed by [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] in a two-year deal, reuniting him again with McCarthy. He played almost all the club's games as they reached the play-offs in his first season at [[Molineux Stadium|Molineux]], scoring once, against [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/6392561.stm |title=Luton 2–3 Wolverhampton |publisher=BBC Sport |date=3 March 2007 |access-date=5 February 2010}}</ref>

He was made Wolves' club captain for the [[2007–08 in English football|2007–08]] season,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6934697.stm |title=Wolves name Breen as club captain |publisher=BBC Sport |date=7 August 2007 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref> but ended up missing several months through injury. He was involved in an after-match confrontation with his manager in March 2008.<ref>{{cite news |title=McCarthy and Breen in bust-up |newspaper=Express & Star |place=Wolverhampton |date=6 March 2008 |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/2008/03/06/mccarthy-and-breen-in-bust-up/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501233518/http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/03/06/mccarthy-and-breen-in-bust-up/ |archive-date=1 May 2009}}</ref>

In December 2008, he joined [[Barnet F.C.|Barnet]] as a player-coach.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bees land Breen |publisher=Sky Sports |date=1 December 2008 |url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11750/4577150/ |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref> In July 2009 Breen signed a new contract to become player/assistant manager at the club.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8141960.stm |title=Breen named Barnet assistant boss |publisher=BBC Sport |date=9 July 2009 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref>

On the ''[[Goals on Sunday]]'' programme on 6 September 2009, Breen revealed that he had agreed to move to [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Inter Milan]] after the 2002 World Cup, but failed a medical.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bigredbench.blogspot.com/2009/09/gary-breen-and-inter-milan.html |title=Gary Breen and Inter Milan |date=7 September 2009 |access-date=14 July 2010}}</ref> Breen had also been linked with a move to [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/feb/21/newsstory.sport1 |title=Gary Breen: Uppity of Upton Park? |date=21 February 2003 |access-date=14 July 2010 |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Dan |last=Rookwood}}</ref> Breen left Barnet in June 2010.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.times-series.co.uk/sport/8224006.Gary_Breen_leaves_Barnet/ |title=Ex-World Cup star departs Underhill for new challenge |newspaper=Barnet & Potters Bar Times |date=17 June 2010 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref>

Breen was appointed first-team coach of Peterborough United in June 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22758956 |title=Peterborough United: Gary Breen becomes first-team coach |publisher=BBC Sport |date=3 June 2013 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref>

==International career==
Breen's form at Birmingham won him a call-up to the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland national team]]. On 29 May 1996, he made his debut when he replaced [[Alan Kernaghan]] in the 88th minute of the 1–0 [[Exhibition game#International football|friendly]] defeat against [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]] at [[Lansdowne Road]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Keane's apology is little comfort |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/keanes-apology-is-little-comfort-1349872.html |work=Independent.co.uk |publisher=The Independent |date=30 May 1996 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> Three days later, Breen made his first start in the 2–2 friendly draw with [[Croatia national football team|Croatia]], he played 74 minutes before being replaced by [[Tony Cascarino]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Irish hold Croatia to end losing streak |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/irish-hold-croatia-to-end-losing-streak-1335210.html |work=Independent.co.uk |publisher=The Independent |date=3 June 1996 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> He scored his first goal for his country two days later, he opened the scoring in the 3–1 defeat to the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] at [[De Kuip]] in [[Rotterdam]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Zimbabwe recall Ndlovu brothers for World Cup qualifier |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/zimbabwe-recall-ndlovu-brothers-for-world-cup-qualifier-1335745.html |work=Independent.co.uk |publisher=The Independent |date=6 June 1996 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref>

Breen's form at Coventry cemented his place in his national side and he played at the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]] as Ireland made the [[2002 FIFA World Cup knockout stage#Spain vs Republic of Ireland|second round]] under [[Mick McCarthy]]. He scored in Ireland's 3–0 [[2002 FIFA World Cup Group E|group]] win against [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Ireland stroll into last 16 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/matches_wallchart/saudi_arabia_v_rep_of_ireland/default.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=11 June 2002 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref>

==Honours==
'''Individual'''
*[[PFA Team of the Year]]: [[2004–05 Football League Championship]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/4475213.stm |title=Sunderland/Wigan dominate line-up |website=BBC Sport |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Republic of Ireland international footballers born outside the Republic of Ireland]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Soccerbase}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070323191806/http://www.uptheposh.com/people/1141/ Profile]}} at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070205233152/http://www.uptheposh.com/ UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database]}}

{{2004–05 Football League Championship Team of the Year}}
{{Coventry City F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{Republic of Ireland Squad 2002 World Cup}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Gary}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from the London Borough of Barnet]]
[[Category:People from Hendon]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players]]
[[Category:Gillingham F.C. players]]
[[Category:Peterborough United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Birmingham City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Coventry City F.C. players]]
[[Category:West Ham United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Sunderland A.F.C. players]]
[[Category:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Barnet F.C. players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:Barnet F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Peterborough United F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers]]
[[Category:Association football coaches]]

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Gary Breen