Titus Bramble

Titus Bramble

Personal information
Full name	Titus Malachi Bramble
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Wigan Athletic
Number	19
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:48, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Titus Malachi Bramble (born July 31, 1981 in Ipswich, Suffolk) is an English football player, currently playing as a centre back for Wigan Athletic in the Premier League. He has an older brother, Tesfaye, who plays for Leiston.

Football career

Ipswich Town

He joined Ipswich Town at a young age and progressed through the ranks, originally playing as a striker, scoring two goals for the reserves before he made his football league debut in 1998–99 in a 2–1 away victory at Sheffield United. He went on to make 61 appearances for the club scoring four goals.

As a 19 year old he made a strong start to his Premier League career as a central defender, after scoring in a 1–0 win over Sunderland, his then manager George Burley called him a colossus. Even as a 19 year old he was seen as a physically strong player, and one of his teammates Matt Holland tipped him to make the England Squad.

In December 2001 Bramble was rejected a three year extension to his contract which was due to expire in summer 2004.

He was dropped from the first team prior to a 1–0 home defeat to future employers Newcastle United after making several errors in previous matches.

Newcastle United

Bramble joined Newcastle in July 2002 for £5 million, vowing at the time to make himself indispensable to then manager Bobby Robson.

Bramble, along with Carlton Cole and first cousin, John Higgins, were arrested on October 10 2003, on suspicion of 'gang rape'. They have both since been cleared.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, readers of the football e-mail newsletter The Fiver voted Bramble as the worst player of the year in the English Premiership. One reader wrote: "Titus's occasional flash of brilliance is heavily outweighed by the total inability to think before attempting what inevitably turns into a hashed clearance, a mistimed tackle, an own goal or a penalty for the opposition."

Bramble's infamous pairing with Jean-Alain Boumsong at the heart of Newcastle's defence was particularly calamitous and the partnership was jokingly referred to as the "Chuckle Brothers live show". Titus scored a spectacular volleyed goal against Chelsea on May 8 2006 in a 1–0 victory that secured qualification for the Intertoto Cup .

On August 10 2006, Titus scored another vital goal for Newcastle in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round with a header against Latvian side FK Ventspils. In the return leg as St James's Park, Bramble gave a solid performance in a 0–0 draw, allowing the Geordies to progress to the UEFA Cup.

On August 13 2006, it was reported that Bramble was involved in another car crash in the village of Newton Flotman in Norfolk, while heading for a nightclub in Norwich. His BMW M3 convertible car, carrying five or six people, crashed into a garden wall. No one was hurt in the incident, and Bramble cleared a standard breath test.

In December 2006, Bramble was admitted into hospital after his injured calf swelled to double its normal size.

On January 31 2007, Bramble returned to action against Aston Villa in the centre of defence alongside Steven Taylor. Bramble put in some solid performances against Fulham, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and a Man of The Match Performance against Zulte-Waregem.

After another poor performance in Newcastle's 2–0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar he was dropped by Glenn Roeder. He looked to be frozen out of Newcastle, due to the return of Craig Moore and consistency of Steven Taylor and Oguchi Onyewu, and no longer part of Roeder's plans.

On May 16 2007, following the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager of Newcastle United, Bramble was told his contract would not be renewed and was immediately released.

Wigan Athletic

Titus Bramble signed for Wigan Athletic on a free transfer, agreeing to a three-year-deal on 4 June 2007.

On 1 December 2007 Bramble made his first major error of the season whilst facing Manchester City, in Steve Bruce's first game in charge as new manager of Wigan following the departure of Chris Hutchings, "Bramble gifted City midfielder Geovanni the fastest goal in the Premier League this season when his miserable attempt at a pass to Kevin Kilbane ended up falling right at the Brazilian's feet". In January 2008, Bramble struck with a 20 yard strike against Liverpool after a poor clearance by Steven Gerrard at Anfield. On 21 January Bramble made another high-profile error, in a home match against Everton. What looked like an easy backpass to Chris Kirkland was fouled up by Bramble, who seemed to lose his footing. The backpass was caught onto by Andrew Johnson who scored to set up a 2-1 away win for Everton. Bramble had to wait until May 3 for his next appearance. Bramble added to his tally of own goals in the home match against Sunderland on 13 September 2008. However, despite his reputation for errors, many people rate Bramble highly and he has achieved 'cult hero' status at the JJB Stadium. These views are echoed by Steve Bruce who gave Bramble the captains armband for the first time against former employers Ipswich Town. Bramble scored a dramatic equaliser against Newcastle United at St. James' Park, the match finishing in a 2-2 draw on the 15th November, 2008.

External links

• Titus Bramble at Soccerbase
• The Titus Bramble Appreciation Society