| Born in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, David Brightwell was a rugged
central defender but he would in fact go on to make most of his
appearances for Manchester City as a left-back. He was signed straight
from school as a 16 year-old in 1987, following in the footsteps of
elder brother Ian who was already at the club. It was seemingly
inevitable that both boys would go on to become sportsmen, their mother
Ann Packer having won a gold medal in the 800 metres at the 1964 Tokyo
Olympic Games and father Robbie himself a European Champion over 400
metres.
After progressing through the ranks at City David found
it increasingly hard to break into the first team, and in March 1991 he
was sent out on loan to Division Three Chester City to gain some
much-needed experience. The following season, his fifth at the club, he
was eventually given his league debut at the age of 21 when manager
Peter Reid introduced him as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Wimbledon
on February 22nd 1992. The following week he replaced the injured Steve
Redmond in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, but after successive defeats to
Queens Park Rangers (0-4) and Southampton (0-1) he had to make way for
the returning Redmond and would have to settle for just 4 appearances
that season.
The 1992/93 campaign would be equally frustrating
for Brightwell with the experienced trio of Keith Curle, Andy Hill and
Michel Vonk in front of him in the pecking order at the heart of City's
defence. He was mostly seen as a squad player by manager Reid, and was
only given 4 league starts with a further 4 substitute appearances as
the team finished ninth in the newly-formed Premier League.
The
1993/94 term, however, would be relatively successful for David as he
got his chance early in the season, deputising at left-back for injured
big-money buy Terry Phelan, and he played in eight of the first nine
league games. It was during this time that manager Reid was sacked after
a winless opening four matches and he was replaced by Brian Horton.
Although Brightwell appeared in a 1-1 League Cup draw at home to Reading
and a 4-1 FA Cup third round defeat of Leicester City he was making
only fleeting appearances in the league, and it wasn't until Phelan was
once again injured in March that he got a decent run of games until the
end of the season. With the club struggling desperately to avoid
relegation Brightwell picked an opportune moment to score his one and
only league goal for the club, getting the winner in a 2-1 home win over
Newcastle United to ease any fears of the drop after a three-match
winning run. David had made 22 league appearances and scored that one
vital goal as the team climbed to sixteenth place in the table.
With
Brightwell looking to cement a place in the City line-up the 1994/95
season would be a major disappointment for the player, as once again he
could only force his way into the league side through injury to Phelan.
Despite David appearing in both domestic cups, scoring in a 2-2 FA Cup
third round draw at Notts County, defeat by Newcastle United (1-3) in
the fifth round and a 4-0 League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace put paid
to any ambitions on that front, and he appeared only 9 times in the
league as the Blues finished a disappointing seventeenth, a 2-1 defeat
against Crystal Palace on April 1st turning out to be his last game for
the club.
Although he was still at the club at the start of the
next season a new manager in Alan Ball had taken over from Horton, and
with David not figuring in his plans he was loaned out to Lincoln City,
Stoke City and Bradford City, the club which eventually bought him for
£30,000 in December 1995. In his eight seasons at Maine Road he had
made 53 league and cup appearances (including 11 as a substitute) and
scored 2 goals, never quite establishing himself in the first-team in
his whole time with the club. He later went on to play for Blackpool
(loan), Northampton Town, Carlisle United, Hull City and Darlington
before eventually quitting professional football in 2002 at the age of
31, having played for ten different clubs in his career. (David Redshaw)
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