Drewe And Diamonds Could Be Forever

Last updated : 05 November 2004 By Robert Craven

There may not be space for Broughton with the Shrimpers
Broughton became a Shrimpers cult hero for his role in the club’s run to the LDV Vans Trophy final last season, bagging five goals and two in particular in the 4-3 aggregate success over Colchester United in the two-legged area final. He has since out-shone his entire Blues collection of two Football League goals in forty games with three in three at Diamonds, all of which came last Saturday against Notts County, who subsequently sacked manager Gary Mills in midweek.


Speaking to the official Rushden & Diamonds website, www.thediamondsfc.com, after the match, the 25-year-old said of his spell with the Northamptonshire outfit, “Everyone in football knows how good the facilities are here and the coaching is first class with Stewart Robson [who also coached Broughton at Roots Hall in summer 2003] and Ernie Tippett”.


On the club as a whole, he added, “We have a good bunch of lads who all want to go well and I’ve really enjoyed the last few weeks. I have one more game left of my loan spell so we will have to see what happens after that”. Broughton continued to say that, “Originally I came here with the idea of going back to Southend, but we will have to see what their position is and what the position is here. I have one more week of knuckling down and then hopefully a good performance next Saturday”.


Broughton and his Diamonds colleagues face Darlington at Nene Park tomorrow, but the club, formerly funded by the owner of the successful Dr. Martens shoe chain, have moved quickly to secure the services of the six-foot three-inch striker’s forward partner, Gary Mulligan, from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Different rules concern Broughton as he is now over 24 years of age, but the loan spell can be extended to a maximum of three months.


For his part, the target man, whose last Blues goal was in the pre-season friendly against Billericay Town, is unsure of what the future may hold. As part of his responsibilities as the club’s Professional Footballers’ Association, he was interviewed for their website, www.givemefootball.com, for his opinions on his current predicament.


Talking about his relationship with Shrimpers chief Steve Tilson, Broughton said, “He appreciates that I need to play and, in all fairness to him, he didn’t have to let me go to one of our rivals in the League. However, he has been great and I’m extremely grateful to him for that”. The Hitchin-born talent also hinted at a positive attitude to the move, “I originally came here to convince Steve Tilson that I was worthy of a place in his team but they are flying now and I need to keep playing so I hope I can keep playing here for the moment”.


The capture of Grays Athletic man Eastwood has proved to be a turning point in Southend’s season, but Broughton also believes that it could signal a change of fortunes in his own career. “Hopefully [my hat-trick] can kick-start my season as I felt that last term at Southend was the best of my career. I played consistently well in the League and helped the club reach the final of the LDV Vans Trophy”, he said.


But with Eastwood and Wayne Gray hitting it off up front, and both Lawrie Dudfield and Tesfaye Bramble consistently having scored goals at a far superior rate than Broughton in the past, ‘Drewenaldo’, as he has affectionately been termed by some supporters, may have to seek regular football elsewhere.


Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com