| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jon Edmund Alexander Brady [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 14 January 1975 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [3] | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991 | Adamstown Rosebud | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1993 | Brentford | 0 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Swansea City | 0 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Wycombe Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| 1994 | Mjølner | 12 | (6) |
| 1994–1998 | Hayes | 158 | (19) |
| 1998–2002 | Rushden & Diamonds | 127 | (17) |
| 2002 | Woking | 12 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Chester City | 33 | (2) |
| 2003–2005 | Stevenage Borough | 54 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | Hereford United | 19 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Cambridge United | 53 | (4) |
| 2007 | → Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Kettering Town | ||
| 2008–2009 | Brackley Town | ||
| Total | 477 | (52) | |
| International career | |||
| 1990 | Australia U17 | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2015 | Brackley Town | ||
| 2021–2024 | Northampton Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jon Edmund Alexander Brady (born 14 January 1975) is an Australian soccer coach and former player.
Brady was a youth player with Adamstown Rosebud when he was spotted by English club Brentford. He went on to spend time with Swansea City and Wycombe Wanderers, though it was at Norwegian club Mjølner where he made his senior debut in 1994. He returned to England the following year to join non-League club Hayes. He was converted from centre-forward to playing on the wings and was a key player in the club's Isthmian League Premier Division title-winning campaign in 1995–96. Sold to Rushden & Diamonds for £40,000 in 1998, he won the Football Conference with the club in 2000–01. He played in the Football League Third Division the following season, taking his final tally at the club to 166 appearances. He then returned to non-League football with spells at Woking, Chester City, Stevenage Borough, Hereford United, Cambridge United, Kidderminster Harriers (on loan), Kettering Town and Brackley Town. He won the Conference North with Kettering Town in 2007–08.
He began his coaching career with Brackley Town, becoming caretaker manager initially in March 2009. He spent the next six-and-a-half years in charge, winning the Southern Premier Division in 2011–12, the Northamptonshire Senior Cup three times, and the Maunsell Cup twice. He resigned in September 2015 and went on to coach in the Academy at Northampton Town. He took caretaker charge of the first team in February 2021 and was given the job permanently despite relegation into League Two. They were beaten in the play-off semi-finals in his first full season in charge, before securing automatic promotion in 2022–23. He took the team to mid-table in League One and resigned in December 2024.
Brady was born and raised in Australia. He came through at Adamstown Rosebud. He finished runner-up to Ante Milicic in the National Youth League Player of the Year award in 1991. [4] He joined Brentford after being scouted playing in a tournament in Denmark as a young teenager. [5] He had been playing senior men's football in Australia at the age of 15 and had to finish his schooling before his parents allowed him to go to Brentford. [6] He went on to join Swansea City, where he was punched in a reserve game by the first-team manager. [6]
After failing to break into the first-team at Wycombe Wanderers, Brady joined Hayes via a spell in Norway with Mjølner where he scored six goals in 12 games. [7] He played 189 games for the Missioners in all competitions, scoring 26 goals. [7] Nicknamed "Skippy", he was converted from a centre-forward to a wing-back by manager Terry Brown. He was part of the team which won the Isthmian League Premier Division in 1995–96, before transferring to Rushden & Diamonds in the summer of 1998 for a fee of £40,000. [8]
Brady was a Football Conference champion with Rushden & Diamonds in 2000–01, scoring the winner at Chester City on the final day of the season to make promotion mathematically certain. [9] The following season saw him appear on the losing side for the Diamonds against Cheltenham Town in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium. [10] He said his time at Nene Park was the highlight of his playing career. [6]
After a brief spell at Woking, he joined Chester City. He once again suffered play-off disappointment, losing the inaugural Football Conference play-offs at the semi-final stage to Doncaster Rovers. [11] He was released from his Chester contract during their 2003–04 title winning campaign in order to join the coaching staff of Arsenal, [12] but soon resumed his playing career with Stevenage Borough. [13]
He played in the 2005 Conference play-off final defeat to Carlisle United at the Britannia Stadium. [14] Brady signed for Hereford United on 11 June 2005. [15] [16] On 5 Janauary 2006, he joined Cambridge United on a free transfer after telling Bulls manager Graham Turner he could no longer take the long commute from his Northampton home. [17]
He subsequently joined Cambridge United, before a loan spell with Kidderminster Harriers in March 2007. [18] He signed for Conference North side Kettering Town in June 2007. [19] Kettering were promoted under the stewardship of manager Mark Cooper. [20] He scored six goals in 28 games for Kettering. [7]
He later lamented that "I did not fulfil my own potential" as a player, though he did achieve his coaching badges and ran his own business delivering PE in schools throughout Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. [5] The company employed a staff of 40, though he sold it off in order to focus on his career in management. [21] He agreed to play three games for Brackley Town and eventually went on to manage the club. [6] He was also offered a trial by homeclub club Newcastle Jets in 2009. [4]
Brady began his career as a centre-forward, before being converted to wing-back. He was an excellent crosser and dead-ball kicker. [8]
Brady was appointed manager of Southern League Premier Division club Brackley Town on a caretaker basis in March 2009 to run until the end of the 2008–09 season. He was given the job permanently on 17 April. [22] The team qualified for the play-offs at the end of the 2009–10 campaign, but were beaten by Nuneaton Town at the semi-final stage. [23] Brackley won the Southern Football League Premier Division title at the end of the 2011–12 season. [23]
He was named Conference North Manager of the Month in August 2012 for overseeing impressive wins over Altrincham and Corby Town. [24] He retained the award the following month after Brackley extended their unbeaten run to nine matches, of which eight were victories. [25] Brackley qualified for the play-offs at the end of the 2012–13 season, though lost out to FC Halifax Town by a goal to nil in the final. [26]
Brackley defeated League One side Gillingham by one goal to nil in the first round of the FA Cup on 18 November 2013 to reach the second round for the first time in their history, [27] having earned a replay with a 1–1 draw at Priestfield Stadium nine days previously. [28] Brackley finished 18th at the end of the 2014–15 campaign after facing a reduced playing budget, [29] only avoiding relegation by winning their final three games. [30] On 6 September 2015, Brady stepped down as manager with the club 19th in the table. [29]
"You are arranging pre-match meals, arranging the coach. You are thinking, if we put a tea bar next to that turnstile, that might help. You are always looking at ways to bring in revenue. It was all about trying to find ways off the pitch to get us resources on it."
— Brady talked about his time as a non-League manager in July 2025. [5]
Brady joined Northampton Town as U16 coach in 2016 and was promoted to U18 coach in 2017. [31] He led the side to the EFL Youth Alliance title in 2018. [32]
Following the sacking of Keith Curle on 10 February 2021, Brady was placed in temporary charge of the first team. [33] On 4 March, it was confirmed that Brady would remain in charge of the first-team until the end of the 2020–21 season. [34] In the penultimate match of the season, Northampton were beaten 3–0 by Blackpool, a result that saw Northampton immediately relegated back to League Two. [35] Despite the relegation, however, Brady was appointed permanent manager on 8 May after having won five of his 20 games in charge. [36] He convinced the club to bring in Martin Foyle as head of recruitment and allow him to take the players on a three-day leadership programme with the British Army. [6]
Following two defeats at the start of October, Brady held a team meeting and instructed his players to "sort things out" according to right-back Aaron McGowan, with the result being a winning streak. [37] Brady and his side were in a good position for an immediate return to the third tier throughout the 2021–22 campaign, with the automatic promotion race going down to the final day. Despite beating Barrow 3–1, [38] Bristol Rovers beat already-relegated Scunthorpe United 7–0 to move into third place on goals scored having needed to better Northampton's result by a five-goal margin. [39] Northampton were subsequently defeated over two legs by Mansfield Town in the play-offs. [40] Brady later said he had to "reshape the psychology, the motivation, the emotions for the players" following the disappointment. [5] He also had to contend with the departures of club captain Fraser Horsfall, and strikers Danny Rose and Benny Ashley-Seal. [41]
Brady aimed to push for promotion again and signed Danny Hylton from Luton Town to lead the front line. [42] More significant additions, however, turned out to be loanees Marc Leonard and Kieron Bowie, from Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham, who would actually spend the next two seasons on loan at the club. [21] Sam Hoskins finished as top-scorer with 22 goals after Brady coached him to improve his timing in arriving in the box. [6] Brady was nominated for the League Two Manager of the Month award after his side won both of their league fixtures in November. [43] He signed a new rolling contract in January, as did his coaching team of Colin Calderwood, Marc Richards and James Alger. [44] A series of injuries in the first-team led to him recruiting plaeyrs such as Paul Osew and David Norman on minimum wage, as well as play youth team products like Max Dyche. [6] He was awarded the League Two Manager of the Month award for March, having led his side to 13 points from five matches. [45] This came on the strength of four clean sheets despite the ongoing injury crisis. [45] At the end of the 2022–23 season, Northampton were promoted to League One automatically in third place. [46] He praised the team's "tremendous courage and bouncebackability". [47]
He found recruitment difficult in League One due to the presence of big-spending clubs in the division. [48] He was nominated for the November League One Manager of the Month award after overseeing nine points from three league games. [49] In January, Brady renewed his rolling contract with the club on improved terms with the side in ninth position in League One. [50] Town ended the 2023–24 campaign in 14th-place, 16 points clear of the relegation places, which Brady said was his biggest achievement at Sixfields. [51] [52] It made him the first manager in 15 years to lead Northampton for a full League One campaign and successfully avoid relegation. [53] He considered walking away from the club after key players Shaun McWilliams, Louis Appéré and Sam Sherring rejected contract offers for moves elsewhere, though he was persuaded to stay by chairman Kelvin Thomas. [54]
On 5 December 2024, Brady resigned as Northampton manager with the club in the relegation zone, following a run of six matches without a win. [55] It came two days after he had spoken of his pride in the season-by-season progress shown by Northampton on the milestone of him reaching 200 games in charge. [56] He confirmed that it was his decision as he had "achieved everything we set out to do", claiming that the team had gained "223 points over three seasons" and that he had earned "the right to go after something bigger". [51] [57] His resignation came as a surprise to pundits and supporters, who speculated that he needed a break following a lengthy spell with the club struggling with long-term injuries and a short-term dip in form. [58] His assistant, Ian Sampson, who subsequently became caretaker manager, also expressed his shock at Brady's decision to leave. [59]
Brady was strongly linked to vacant management positions at Bristol Rovers, Barrow and Port Vale. [60] [61] [62] During his time out of the game he gained a diploma in Football Management and a leaders' course from the League Managers Association and spent six weeks with Villarreal. [21]
Brady has stated that he has an excellent ability to identify the key traits needed in players, saying that "I have two non-negotiables for every position". [5] He does not have a set philosophy as he tries to fit the tactics to the players available to him, saying "I am flexible and adaptable". [5] He also likes finding "rough diamonds or players who have not quite hit their potential" and then "accelerat[ing] a player's development". [5]
Brady is married with three children. [63] He ran the London Marathon in 2025 to raise money for the British Forces Foundation. [64] [65]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1991–92 [66] | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992–93 [66] | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Swansea City | 1993–94 [66] | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1994–95 [66] | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mjølner | 1994 [66] | Norwegian First Division | 12 | 6 | — | — | — | 12 | 6 | |||
| Hayes | 1994–95 [66] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 18 | 6 | — | — | — | 18 | 6 | |||
| 1995–96 [66] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 32 | 8 | — | — | — | 32 | 8 | ||||
| 1996–97 [66] | Football Conference | 53 | 2 | — | — | — | 53 | 2 | ||||
| 1997–98 [66] | Football Conference | 55 | 3 | — | — | — | 55 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 158 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 19 | ||
| Rushden & Diamonds | 1998–99 [67] | Football Conference | 37 | 2 | 4 | 2 | — | 6 [a] | 1 | 47 | 5 | |
| 1999–2000 [67] | Football Conference | 27 | 3 | 6 | 2 | — | 8 [b] | 0 | 41 | 5 | ||
| 2000–01 [67] | Football Conference | 41 | 11 | 2 | 0 | — | 5 [c] | 0 | 48 | 11 | ||
| 2001–02 [67] | Third Division | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 [d] | 2 | 30 | 3 | |
| Total | 127 | 17 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 166 | 24 | ||
| Woking | 2002–03 [68] | Football Conference | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Chester City | 2002–03 [68] | Football Conference | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 [e] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2003–04 [69] | Football Conference | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 [f] | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Total | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2 | |||
| Stevenage Borough | 2003–04 [13] | Football Conference | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 [g] | 1 | 22 | 1 | |
| 2004–05 [13] | Conference National | 34 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 5 [h] | 1 | 42 | 4 | ||
| Total | 54 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | 2 | 64 | 5 | |||
| Hereford United | 2005–06 [70] | Conference National | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 [f] | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
| Cambridge United | 2005–06 [70] | Conference National | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 [71] | Conference National | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | ||
| Total | 53 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 53 | 4 | |||
| Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 2006–07 [71] | Conference National | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Career total | 477 | 52 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 5 | 538 | 62 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Brackley Town | 1 March 2009 | 9 September 2015 | 306 | 132 | 76 | 98 | 43.1 | [72] |
| Northampton Town | 10 February 2021 | 5 December 2024 | 200 | 75 | 50 | 75 | 37.5 | [72] |
| Total | 506 | 207 | 126 | 173 | 40.9 | |||
Hayes
Rushden & Diamonds
Kettering Town
Brackley Town
Northampton Town
Individual