*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Joe Brayne
Appearances: 45+4 Goals: 25
Date / Year of birth: 1963
Position: Striker
Season of first appearance: 1993/94
Season of last appearance: 1993/94
Also played for: Knighton Town (Wales), Deal Town and Whitehawk
Prolific shaven-headed goalscorer born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire who played for Mid Wales League club Knighton Town before moving to Kent. Joe joined Deal towards the end of the 1989/90 season and scored after one minute of his debut in a 3-1 defeat at Greenwich Borough. He went on to become a legendary figure at the club.
Joe scored over 25 goals during 1990/91, including four in an 8-1 win over Crockenhill in December 1990, and then got more than 30 goals during the 1991/92 campaign. In February 1992 big-spending Southern League club Sittingbourne made an official approach for him but Joe opted to stay with Deal.
On 5.8.92 he was on target in a 2-0 friendly win at Margate and Joe went on to score a club record 51 goals during the 1992/93 season, making him the Kent League's top scorer. He also won Deal's 'Player of the Year' award and it was the third season in a row that he'd broken the club's goalscoring record.
On 7.8.93 Joe played for Margate in a friendly against Windsor & Eton at Hartsdown Park and after scoring all the goals in a 3-0 win he signed a contract for the 1993/94 campaign. Joint manager Mark Weatherly told the Thanet Extra "he is a team man, brave and strong who fancies his chances in a higher grade of football".
Joe made his debut in a 0-0 home draw with Fareham on 21.8.93 and the Thanet Times said he was "a brave battler up front". On 28.8.93 he scored his first goal in 3-1 win against Wealdstone at Yeading and it was the start of a great run for Joe. He scored in each of Margate's next four matches up to and including an FA Cup tie against Pagham at Hartsdown on 11.9.93. Joe bagged a hat-trick that day in a 6-0 win and his new strike partner Steve Cuggy also scored three times. It was the first time two Margate players had scored hat-tricks in the same match since January 1974 and Joe's partnership with Cuggy turned out to be an excellent one as both scored regularly throughout 1993/94.
On 9.10.93 Joe had around £300 in cash and valuables stolen from the dressing rooms as Margate lost 5-2 at Metropolitan Police in the FA Cup and later that month the Isle of Thanet Gazette said he was "industrious" and "lion-hearted". In October and November 1993 Joe endured a barren run of seven games without scoring and he was dropped to the subs bench for a home game with Bury on 4.12.93. He came on during the second half and promptly ended his goal drought. The Thanet Times wrote "the gutsy striker went in where the boots were flying to head home" and the match finished 2-2. Joe found himself on the bench again for Margate's next two games but marked his return to the starting line-up with a goal in a 1-1 draw at Baldock on 18.12.93. The Isle of Thanet Gazette wrote "he battles on gamely week in, week out".
On 12.2.94 he scored his second competitive hat-trick of the season as Margate thrashed Burnham 4-0 at Hartsdown and on 19.2.94 Joe played for over half an hour in goal after keeper Steve Williams was sent off in a 1-1 draw at Witney.
He went six games without scoring during March and April 1994 and towards the end of April Joe missed three matches as he was attending an FA coaching course. He returned to the Margate side for a 2-0 win at Buckingham on 30.4.94 but was then controversially relegated to the subs bench for the Kent Senior Cup Final against Dover at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium on 2.5.94. Paul Malcolm took his place but Joe's disappointment turned to joy when he came on to score the goal that gave Margate a 2-1 win two minutes into stoppage time, a strike that cemented his cult hero status. He was restored to the starting line-up for Margate's last two games of 1993/94 and on 7.5.94 Joe scored twice in a 5-0 win over Poole at Hartsdown to take his goal tally for the season to 25, beating Cuggy's total by one to finish up as top scorer. It turned out to be Joe's last match for the club and having made 49 appearances (four as sub) he went back to Deal.
He became Deal's player-manager for the 1994/95 campaign and on 30.7.94 Joe scored twice in 4-3 friendly defeat at home to Margate. He went on to score over 20 goals during the season and was also part of Deal's committee. Joe stayed with the club until the end of 1996 when he moved away from Kent. By then he'd scored an all-time club record of 175 goals in 239 appearances (ten as sub) for Deal.
Joe later had a spell with Sussex County League side Whitehawk where he was player-coach during 1999/00 and in the mid 2000's he was working in the security industry. Joe featured in a television documentary about an airport at that time.
In 2014 he was living in Minorca.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
FAC |
FAT |
SLC |
KSC |
||
|
1993/94 (MFC) |
45 (54) |
4 |
25 |
SOUTHERN LEAGUE SOUTHERN DIV. (9TH OF 22) |
3QR |
1QR |
3R |
W |
|
| Played (as sub) and scored in Kent Senior Cup Final (02.05.94 - beat Dover 2-1 at Gillingham FC). | |||||||||