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Kevin Braniff

Name: Kevin Robert Braniff
Born: 4 March 1983, Belfast
Height: 5.11 ft
Weight: 10.10 st
Position: Forward / Midfielder

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 2 Full Caps (2010), 1 Under-23 Cap (2004), 11 Under-21 Caps / 1 Goal (2002-2005), Under-18, Under-16, NI Select (2007).
Club Honours: (with Portadown) IFA Championship Winner 2008/09; Irish Cup Runner-Up 2009/10; Irish League Cup Winner 2008/09, Runner-Up 2010/11; (with Glenavon) Irish Cup Winner 2015/16.

Club Career:
Teams ............ -Seasons- Signed -Fee- --League- FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other
Millwall ......... 00/1-06/7 Aug-00 Youth 28(27)/.2 4(7)/1 4(4)/2
Rushden & Diamonds 04/5 .... Jul-04 .Loan 11 (1)/.3 ...... 1(0)/0 ..... 1(0)/0
Canvey Island .... 04/5 .... Dec-04 .Loan .3 (1)/.1 (Conference)
Darlington .............. .. Apr-05 Trial .0 (0)/.0
Portadown ........ 06/7-13/4 Dec-06 .Free ....................... 7(0)/1
Bucaspor ................... Jul-10 Trial .0 (0)/ 0
Port Melbourne Sharks ...... Feb-14 (Australian NPL Victoria)
Glenavon ......... 14/5-16/7 Jun-14 ..... 64 (6)/26 6(0)/6 5(1)/1 4(0)/1 4(0)/0
Ballymena United . 16/7-17/8 Jan-17 ..... 20 (5)/ 4 2(2)/2 2(0)/1 2(0)/0 2(1)/1
Portadown ........ 18/9 .... May-18
Lisbun Distillery .......... c/s-19
St James' Swifts .............. -20
* all domestic games.

By Season:
Team
Season
Lge
Total
League
FA Cup
FL Cup
Europe
Other
St
Sb
Gl
St
Sb
Gl
St
Sb
Gl
St
Sb
Gl
St
Sb
Gl
St
Sb
Gl
Millwall
-
-
-
-
Rush.&.Dia.
Canvey Isl.
-
-
Portadown
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Glenavon
-

Ballymena
00/01
01/02
02/03
03/04
04/05
04/05
04/05
05/06
06/07
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10
10/11
11/12
12/13
13/14
14/15
15/16
16/17
16/17
FL-3
Eng-2
FL-2
FL-2
FL-2
FL-4
Co-5
FL-2
FL-3
NI-1
NI-1
NI-2
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
NI-1
5
0
6
7
2
13
3
10
6
?
?
?
?
?
35
39
17
40
34
9
-
(5)
(2)
(6)
(14)
(0)
(1)
(1)
(8)
(3)
?
?
?
?
?
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
(1)
(6)
-
1
0
0
2
0
3
1
0
2
3
5
28
20
19
19
10
7
18
14
2
-
2
0
5
6
1
11
3
9
5
?
?
?
29
27
31
31
14
33
26
5
-
(3)
(1)
(5)
(10)
(0)
(1)
(1)
(6)
(2)
?
?
?
(1)
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
(1)
(5)
-
0
0
0
1
0
3
1
0
1
2
?
16
14
10
17
7
5
16
8
2
-
0
0
1
1
1
-
-
1
-
?
?
?
?
?
1
3
-
2
4
-
-
(1)
(1)
(1)
(3)
(0)
-
-
(1)
-
?
?
?
?
?
(0)
(0)
-
(0)
(0)
-
-
0
0
0
1
0
-
-
0
-
?
?
5
3
?
0
2
-
1
5
-
-
3
-
-
0
-
1
-
0
1
?
?
?
?
?
1
-
3
2
1
2
-
(1)
-
-
(1)
-
(0)
-
(1)
(1)
?
?
?
?
?
(0)
-
(0)
(0)
(0)
(1)
-
1
-
-
0
-
0
-
0
1
?
?
5
3
?
1
-
2
0
1
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3
-
4
-
2
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(0)
-
(0)
-
(0)
(0)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
0
-
1
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
?
?
?
-
?
2
1
-
1
1
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
(0)
-
-
-
?
?
?
-
?
(0)
(0)
-
(0)
(0)
(0)
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
-
?
?
2
-
?
1
1
-
0
0
0
-
TOTALS
244
(41)
139
207
(30)
93
10
(7)
12
12
(4)
14
11
(0)
2
6
(0)
13

Biography:
A strongly built striker, Kevin Braniff scored a superb goal on his Millwall debut as a seventeen year-old in a 2-1 League Cup win at Brighton in August 2000. He spent over six years at the New Den, but his chances arrived only fitfully and he came close to leaving on several ocassions. He spent loan spells with League Two Rushden & Diamonds and with Canvey Island in the Conference. In April 2005 he had a spell on trial with Darlington, but nothing came of it and he returned to Millwall.

Capped at Under-16 and Under-18 level by Northern Ireland, Braniff earned elevation to the Under-21 squad while still just eighteen. He made his debut in a 1-0 defeat by Germany at Windsor Park in February 2002. In 11 Under-21 appearances he scored just one goal, the consolation in a 4-1 defeat by Spain in June 2003. In April 2004 he was selected for an Under-23 international against Serbia & Montenegro who were preparing for that years Under-21 European Championships.

Braniff played his final game for Millwall in a 1-0 defeat by Northampton in September 2006. The following December he was released from his contract by mutual consent. Portadown beat off several other clubs to claim his signature on a three year contract from January 2007. In July 2007 he was selected for a Northern Ireland XI that faced Everton in an anniversary celebration match for the Milk Cup.

Braniff remained with Portadown following their "demotion" to the Championship, featuring either as a striker or right-midfielder. He hit the net five times on the Ports run to the 2009 League Cup, though he didn't score in the 1-0 final win over Newry City. That same season he aided Portadown to an instant return to topflight football and in 2009/10 his fine form, which saw Portadown reach the Irish Cup final, was rewarded with a call-up for Northern Ireland's end-of-season tour to the USA and Chile.

Braniff, who had been Portadown's captain, was made available for transfer after a falling-out with manager, Ronnie McFaul, in November 2013. Having scored over a century of goals for the club, it was announced in January 2014 that Braniff would be moving to Australia, with Portadown retaining first option to re-sign him on his return. His stay in Oz was brief as he returned after just a few months, his destination was surprisingly the Ports' Mid-Ulster rivals, Glenavon. He was man of the match and among the scorers as Glenavon won the 2016 Irish Cup final 2-0 against Linfield.

Mid-way through the 2016/17 season Braniff transferred to Ballymena.

Portadown



Northern Ireland Cap Details:
26-05-2010 Turkey...... N L 0-2 FR 
30-05-2010 Chile....... A L 0-1 FR sub

Summary: 1(1)/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.

Northern Ireland Under-23 Cap Details:
27-04-2004 Serbia & Montenegro H D 0-0 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 0.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
15-02-2002 Germany..... H L 0-1 FR
06-09-2002 Scotland.... A D 1-1 FR. sub
11-10-2002 Spain....... A L 0-1 ECQ sub
11-02-2003 Finland..... H W 3-1 FR
28-03-2003 Armenia..... A L 0-2 ECQ sub
01-04-2003 Greece...... H L 2-6 ECQ
10-06-2003 Spain....... H L 1-4 ECQ 1 Goal
10-10-2003 Greece...... A W 1-0 ECQ sub
18-08-2004 Switzerland. H D 0-0 FR
08-02-2005 Scotland.... H W 2-1 FR
16-08-2005 Rep. Ireland H D 2-2 FR

Summary: 7(4)/1. Won 3, Drew 3, Lost 6.


Comments

Anonymous said…
Disdn't he also represent his country on 30-05-2010 in the match against Chile?
jcd said…
Did indeed, article hadn't been updated in two years. Has now!
Anonymous said…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVHnDIKiz58&feature=youtube_gdata_player