Drewe Broughton has had more clubs than most, yet has only just turned 30, so when it comes down to experience few can beat the Rotherham United striker.
The targetman is at his 16th club in 13 years, but he seems to have found a home in South Yorkshire. He learned his trade at Norwich City, but left in search of first-team football at the age of 20. Since then he has had brief spells at various clubs from Brentford to MK Dons without really making himself a household name.
However, the future looks bright for the Hitchin-born hitman as the Millers attempt to climb up the football ladder next season, with Broughton at the pinnacle of their frontline. Ransacker’s Chris Galea spoke to him about which boots help him lead from the front.
Q. What boots do you wear?
A. I’ve been wearing Mizuno for the last eight or nine years now because I feel they are the most comfortable boots for me.
Q. Have you ever been tempted to change?
A. Well, I wore Adidas boots between the age of 18 and 22 because I had a sponsorship deal with them, but as soon as that expired I went for the Mizuno due to the comfort they give and I’ve never been tempted to part with them.
Q. As a centre-forward, do you feel that strikers tend to have different boot preferences to defenders?
A. Yeah, I’d say that is right. Strikers do tend to differ when they select their boots, but I don’t think it is just because they feel they will score more goals with them. I think they just want to stand out more and with the various colours on offer these days it is easy to do just that.
Q. What’s your view on coloured boots then?
A. I’ve always been a black-boot man and I think I always will be. I think it is more important to draw attention to yourself by what you do on the pitch rather than what you are wearing on your feet. That is just my opinion though and I think I will leave the coloured boots for players like [teammate] Reuben Reid.
Q. You came through the ranks at Norwich City. Were you a boot boy at Carrow Road?
A. Yes I was and I came through in a really good side, with the likes of Robert Green and Craig Bellamy and we all had to clean the pros boots. Funnily enough I used to clean the boots of both Bryan Gunn and Ian Crook, who are the management team there.
Q. The time when academy players would clean the boots of the professionals seems to have gone now. Do you feel it was a good thing to keep the players grounded?
A. Yes, the days of boot boys has gone now, so we have to do them ourselves. There have been a lot of things which have gone from football which shouldn’t have been stripped from the game. Rules and regulations now mean that clubs can’t give the academy kids those sort of jobs anymore, but one thing for sure is that my days as a YTS player was a great grounding for me. I speak to a lot of players in my age group, from Premier League to Blue Square Premier, and they all say that it’s a shame it has gone. The grounding is not the same as it used to be and I don’t think it will benefit the kids in the long run because they can get carried away a little.
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About the author
James is an experienced football journalist who edits two leading Premier League club mags. He has worked for Sky Sports and is endlessly complaining about shin splints. And Mark Lawrenson. His favourite boot is the Adidas Predator Powerswerve. Although it's rumored that he once owned a pair of Nicks boots!
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