Josh Brookes back at Bankstown City FC
He’s only 19 years old but Josh Brookes is already a world football journeyman now returning to his junior club, Bankstown City.
“It feels great to be back. You feel more comfortable where you started. It’s more like a family I guess,” Brookes said.
Leaving home at the tender age of 15 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer, Brookes trialled with Spanish Third Division Club UE Cornella; “It was a great experience to get myself out there with the best players in Spain at my age to see how it was against them, how it was against the world I guess”
There have since been two other stints in Spain, another in Japan and unsuccessful trials with Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers but Brookes remains resilient; “I’m self-motivated. I eat well, don’t drink, don’t party and I know I have to do the hard yards.”
At just 165 centimetres and 55 kilos Brookes is giving away height and weight to most of his opponents but he bristles at the suggestion it’s a disadvantage; “I love the physical side. Obviously I’m not big. I go out and just try to smash ‘em, put ‘em on their arse to prove a point and to shut people up about size difference.”
Bankstown City coach Leo Carle reckons the attacking midfielder has what it takes; “Yes he’s small but so are some of the best players in the world. Josh is a perfectionist and can get down on himself but if he gets the mental side of his game right he can make it.”
In a star-studded PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 side, Brookes is teaming up with former Socceroos Michael Beauchamp and Dean Heffernan; “They’ll be expecting everyone to go to that standard which is great for the club because you’ll get the best out of everyone,” Brookes said.
It’s Josh Brookes’ latest lesson in football’s school of hard knocks before he returns to Japan in July for another crack at international stardom with Yokohama FC.
The son of Glenn Brookes, State Liberal MP for East Hills, the most closely contested seat in NSW heading into the March election, Josh has inherited his dad’s fighting spirit; “I just want to prove my supporters right and everyone else wrong”
-By Mark Chester
