David John Brightwell (born 7 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as defender from 1988 to 2002.
He notably played Premier League football for Manchester City and went on to play in the Football League for Chester City, Lincoln City, Stoke City, Bradford City, Blackpool, Northampton Town, Carlisle United, Hull City and Darlington.
Playing career Brightwell played for ten professional clubs during his long career. He started at Manchester City, where he had been a trainee. He played 44 league games but also had loans spell at Chester City, Lincoln City, Stoke City and Bradford City.David Brightwell's entry at Sporting Heroes
He joined Bradford permanently in December 1995 for £30,000 and took part in their 1995–96 promotion season. He spent a period on loan at Blackpool before he signed on a free transfer for Northampton Town. He made further free transfers to Carlisle United and Hull City before signing for his final club Darlington in February 2001. Whilst at Carlisle, he played a part in one of the most dramatic footballing moments of all time. With Carlisle needing to beat Plymouth Argyle on the last day of the season to avoid relegation from the Football League, Brightwell equalised from 25 yards when they fell behind and this paved the way for Jimmy Glass, their goalkeeper, to score the winner in injury time.
Brightwell played a total of 258 league games during his career, scoring eight goals.
Personal life Brightwell was born in Lutterworth, England. He is the son of Olympic gold medalist Ann Packer and 400m runner Robbie Brightwell and brother of footballer Ian Brightwell. He now works as a fireman.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsManchester City1990–91First Division00000000001991–92First Division40000000401992–93Premier League802000001001993–94Premier League2211010002411994–95Premier League904120001511995–96Premier League0000000000Total431713000532Chester City (loan)1990–91Third Division6000000060Lincoln City (loan)1995–96Third Division5000002070Stoke City (loan)1995–96First Division1000001020Bradford City1995–96Second Division2201000202501996–97First Division2000000020Total240100020270Blackpool (loan)1996–97Second Division2000000020Northampton Town1997–98Second Division351502030451Carlisle United1998–99Third Division4141020104541999–2000Third Division370102020420Total784204030874Hull City2000–01Third Division272202010322Darlington2000–01Third Division1400000001402001–02Third Division220401010280Total360401010420Career total25782111201303039
A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Trophy.
Honours
As a player Manchester City Second Division runner-up: 1988–89
References
External links