TORONTO — Jim Brennan left home at 17 to pursue his soccer dream. His original destination was Glasgow Celtic but the manager got fired on the eve of his arrival, ending the Scottish powerhouse’s interest.
Despite the inauspicious start, it turned out to be the first major step of a Hall of Fame career that saw the winger/fullback make headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brennan found himself headed to Bristol City instead, turning heads with a goal against Tottenham that helped earn him a two-year deal.
The native of Newmarket Ont., went on to play for Nottingham Forest, Norwich City and Southampton before returning home to become Toronto FC’s flagship player.
Brennan, Kara Lang and Pat Onstad will officially be inducted into Canada’s Soccer Hall of Fame on Nov. 8 in Vaughan, Ont. The three players will be joined by Jim Hubay and the late John Kerr in the builder category.
Also entering the Hall are George Anderson, in the pioneer category, and Montreal Carsteel as an "organization of distinction."
Brennan, 38, is already in the Hall as part of the 2000 men’s national team that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. That squad was inducted last year as a "team of distinction."
"That’s something that will always live with you," he said. "Because you go through life and a lot of times guys don’t win anything throughout their career. And I was fortunate that I got to win a few things."
Brennan also won the English Championship with Norwich, earning promotion to the Premier League.
A player who usually had plenty to say and wasn’t shy about sharing, Brennan added sandpaper as well as competitive fire to his teams. In 1999, Nottingham Forrest spent a then-Canadian record 1.5 million pounds (C$3.1 million) to acquire him from Bristol City.
"That was a great honour," he said.
In September 2006, he became Toronto FC’s first player signing. Also the club’s first captain, he chose playing at home over padding his bank account.
"I’ve had to take a massive pay cut," he said at the time. "I could have stayed in England and made a lot more money, but I don’t mind.
"I had a great career in England. I made some good money. So for me now, it’s just coming back home and playing for Toronto. That’s all I wanted to do."
After retiring in April 2010 at age 32, Brennan became Toronto’s assistant general manager before working with the TFC academy and then becoming an assistant coach under Aron Winter. He left the club in August 2014 when Toronto cleaned house, firing coach Ryan Nelsen and all but one of his assistants.
He bears no ill-will.
"In this job, people seem to forget you’re hired to get fired … It’s football. It’s the nature of the beast," he said.
Brennan, an MLS all-star in 2008, logged 7,460 minutes in 84 games for Toronto, scoring four goals and four assists. As befitting his personality, he played through such injuries as broken ribs and a broken wrist.
"I loved every single minute of it," he said of his Toronto days.
He remains linked to the club, the first player to go up on the club’s Wall of Honour at BMO Field (it is a measure of the club’s checkered history that only Danny Dichio had joined him there).
Brennan made his debut for Canada in April 1999 in Belfast in a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland and went on to win 49 caps.
Today the father of three is executive director of the Aurora Youth Soccer Club, which boasts 4,500 members. He went back to school to study business and is continuing with his coaching licences.
