My Spurs debut | Garry Brady vs Fulham | 05.01.1998

Garry Brady made quite an impact on his Spurs debut but, unfortunately, that proved the highlight of his first team career at the club.

Born in Castlemilk, Glasgow, the midfielder joined us as a trainee in 1992 and signed professional forms a year later. He lodged at Bush Hill Park with Stephen Carr and played in the FA Youth Cup Final in 1995 as we lost out on penalties to Manchester United.

Garry got his chance against Fulham in the FA Cup third round on 5 January, 1998, during what was proving a tough season - we were 19th out of 20 in the Premier League at the time, and would endure a fight against relegation right into May, when Jurgen Klinsmann's four goals in a 6-2 win at Wimbledon saw us finally climb away from danger.

This FA Cup tie was Klinsmann's second match of his second spell and Gary found himself in the starting line-up alongside another youngster in Stephen Clemence, who would also make his mark under the lights at the Lane. Indeed, 'Clem' netted his first Spurs goal to open the scoring in the first half, Colin Calderwood added the second and then Garry's moment, a towering header that struck the inside of the post and was inadvertently pushed over his own line by goalkeeper Maik Taylor as he tried to claw the ball away.

Garry went on to make his 11 Spurs appearances in 1997/98, 10 off the bench, including nine in the Premier League. This proved his only start. He moved to Newcastle United that summer before spells at Norwich, Portsmouth, Dundee, St Mirren and Brechin City.

Speaking in our official matchday programme for the following home game against West Ham on 19 January, 1998, Garry said: "I didn't know I was playing against Fulham until the morning of the game when Christian Gross broke the news. I was really shocked, to be honest, but he told me to enjoy the occasion and not to be nervous. It was good advice but I was still on edge before the game and probably for the first 15 minutes. I just tried to get into the game more and things picked up from there.

"As play went on I gradually found a wee bit of confidence and my contribution improved. It was definitely a big difference to what I was used to - even the preparation, like sleeping in the afternoon, was new to me. Having Stephen Carr behind me on the right side of the play was a real help. He was encouraging me before and throughout the game and that made all the difference.

"In the end the game flew by and my contribution to the final goal was the real high point. I claimed it at the time but, having since seen the replay on television, I'm not so sure. Still, I'm relaxed about that. It was a great day for me and my only regret was that I did not have time to bring my parents down. They watched it on TV and, like me, took great pride in my Man of the Match award."